bpi.visqueen - Growers to Discover Green Advances at Fruit Focus 2010

Fruit Focus has always been the ideal event for growers looking to discover new innovations and initiatives able to make their businesses more productive and more profitable. This year however, those looking to make green advances will also be catered for thanks to the appearance of bpi.recycled products.

This organisation, which ranks as Europe’s largest recycler of waste polythene, will be appearing alongside its sister business, bpi.visqueen horticultural products – the well known manufacturer of greenhouse films, polytunnels and crop covers on stand 236. Together, the two divisions of British Polythene Industries (BPI) plc will be promoting their ability to help growers operate in a more eco-sensitive way by keeping reusable polythene in circulation - and out of landfill.

Currently, bpi.recycled products reprocesses over 70,000 tonnes of waste polythene each year, using it to create outdoor furniture, building supplies, refuse sacks and many other products. It uses waste from a whole variety of sources, including scrap horticultural films such as those made by bpi.visqueen horticultural products and by many other major manufacturers. It even operates a dedicated agricultural waste recycling facility in Dumfries which has recently seen a £2 million investment.

Aside from talking about these impressive capabilities, staff from bpi.recycled products will also be keen to advise people of the need to consider where their recycling takes place.

It believes in recycling UK waste at UK facilities to ensure products with a smaller carbon footprint. This is in marked contrast to most large scale polythene recycling which typically happens overseas, resulting in products with high ‘product miles’.

Commenting on the business’ plans for Fruit Focus 2010, Sian Miles, Environmental and Materials Director at bpi.recycled products said: “bpi.recycled products has close ties to UK agriculture and I personally come from a farming background. We understand the challenges faced by the agricultural industry and we’re currently keen to help more growers with their recycling activity.

“Our commitment is such that we’re now taking the message about our offer and our expertise out on the road, speaking to the growing community face to face. There’s no better place to do that than at Fruit Focus 2010.”

ENDS

Images & captions:  Scrap.jpg

Waste wanted. To help more growers with their polythene recycling, bpi.recycled products is attending Fruit Focus 2010.

For more information on this story, contact Wayne Mohammed at Precision on 07931 586 334 or e-mail: wayne@precision-online.co.uk

Editor’s notes:

• bpi.recycled products is the largest recycler of used polythene in Europe recycling over 70,000 tonnes of post-use polythene material from commercial, retail, industrial and agricultural markets.

• bpi.recycled products uses some of these materials to manufacture its award winning Plaswood range of sustainable wood-substitute products. These products include park and garden furniture, street and countryside signs, bollards and marine decking.

• The environmental benefits of recycling plastic are becoming more widely recognised: maximising reusable material, diverting waste from landfill and conserving resources. bpi.recycled products has developed the necessary expertise and the infrastructure in the form of a network of Environment Agency accredited recycling plants to help drive these benefits forward.

• bpi. recycled products is a division of BPI (British Polythene Industries) plc, one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of polythene films, bags and sacks.

• The continuing success of British Polythene Industries has been formally acknowledged in a high profile survey. The business achieved 40th place out of 236 companies in a league table of ‘Britain’s Most Admired Companies’ published by Management Today in association with Accenture. Importantly, BPI attained second place in the Paper & Packaging sector.