About the BPF Recycling Group

The BPF Recycling Group represents practical operating companies at the forefront of UK plastics recycling. Our membership brings together literally hundreds of years of specialist expertise in plastics recycling, enabling the Group to act as a focal point for information, experience and valued opinion to industry, the government and the public.

The Recycling Group has over 30 member companies and represents the full range of activities involved in converting waste plastics back into new polymer materials and products. These activities include the recycling of:

• Plastic bottles and other packaging from UK household collections
• Flexible film recycling both post-consumer and post-industrial 
• Rigid plastics from Waste Electrical Equipment and End-of-Life Vehicles 
• Plastics from construction and demolition sites 
• Retail and Distribution waste plastics 
•  Agricultural and Horticultural plastics 
•  Industrial scrap and off-cut waste materials
  

Recycling Group members are also actively involved in the supply of machinery and technology to support the growth in re-processing infrastructure across the UK. Several of our members are exporters of plastics to support the global demand for raw materials in the polymer industry. 

The Group works closely with other recycling organisations in the UK and abroad and is itself a member of EuPR, the European Plastics Recycling organisation.

Mission Statement

"To become the single, authoritative voice for the UK plastics recycling industry."

Groups' Objectives

The primary objectives of the Recycling Group are:

• To promote the interests of our members across the broad range of their activities within the plastics recycling sector 
• To actively support and encourage the recycling of more plastics from the UK waste stream in a manner which is both economically and environmentally sound 
• To lobby government, legislators and key decision-makers in relation to recycling and waste management strategies and the resultant laws and regulations which impact upon our members 
• To act as a knowledge base comprising a group of practical experts in their own field on all aspects of plastics resource recovery 
• To promote best-practice in the collection, sortation and re-processing of waste plastics, in order to maximise the yield of high-quality polymer resources that can be recovered in an efficient value-chain 
• To strongly support improvements in the management of Health & Safety in our industry 
• To be the voice of our industry sector to the media

Key Facts

Plastics Recycling in the UK

• 900,000 tonnes of plastics were recovered for recycling in the UK in 2009.
• 590,000 tonnes of the plastics packaging was recycled in the UK 2009.
• The recycling of PVC-U building products reached 49,343 tonnes in the UK in 2010.

The BPF Recycling Group Contribution

• Members of the BPF Recycling Group handled 582,000 tonnes of plastics waste in 2009.
• Members of the BPF Recycling Group directly employ over 2,100 staff.
  

UK plastics packaging recycling targets are set to increase in 2012, the UK plastics industry under the banner of the ‘Plastics 2020 Challenge’ has committed to work in partnership with the whole value chain and all levels of government to double the plastics packaging recycling rate to 50% by 2020.

Management Committee

The Recycling Group management committee meets regularly to administer the activities of the Working Groups and its members. The full Recycling Group meets quarterly to report to members and discuss ‘live issues’ in the sector. At the majority of these meetings invited speakers are arranged to focus on particular subjects of general interest to plastics recyclers.

The current members of the BPFRG management committee are:

			Chairman Roger Baynham:  Managing Director, Philip Tyler Polymers Ltd Roger has 25 years experience in the industry , originally with Philip Tyler Ltd and since 1994 as Managing Director of Philip Tyler Polymers LTD. Additionally he was appointed as a non – executive Director of Environmental Recycling Technologies PLC in 2006 and has more recently taken up an executive position as Managing Director . Roger is also Chairman of the WRAP Plastics Forum.
			Vice-Chairman Keith Freegard: Director of Axion Recycling Ltd Keith is a Director of Axion Recycling Ltd, with over 25 years of operational management experience in a wide range of production environments. As a Chartered Chemical Engineer, Keith believes in applying the best processing technology to extract maximum yield and value from plastic waste streams. In recent years he has been developing Axion’s unique plastics recycling business in Manchester with a focus on sales and marketing of high-quality polymers made from recovered WEEE plastic waste.
			Vice-Chairman Bernard Chase: Purchasing Director of REGAIN Polymers Limited Bernard’s recycling roots can be traced back uninterrupted through 3 generations to his grandfather’s scrap rubber business founded in the 1920s. A graduate of Warwick University with a degree in Philosophy & Politics, Bernard’s career in plastics recycling has spanned nearly 40 years from Directorship of Chase Plastics Ltd, the family business specialising in Polythene film recycling, to his current role as Purchasing Director for Regain Polymers Limited (formerly Linpac Plastics Recycling) one of the largest UK specialists in rigid plastics recycling. As well as his position as vice chair of the BPFRG Bernard is also a member of the WRAP Plastics Forum and a regular contributor to other Industry and Government Forums. Bernard campaigns tirelessly to promote the delivery of quality throughout the plastics recycling supply chain in order to maximize the delivery of value and sustainable jobs within the UK economy.
Other members of the BPFRG Management Committee are... Lee Clayton: Viridor Polymer Recycling Ltd Represents the Food Contact Working Group Ian Cleveley:  C K Plastic Recycling Ltd Represents the Exporters Working Group Stephen Lambert: T D G Represents the Films Working Group Martin Parkinson: Sims Group UK Ltd Represents the WEEE & ELV Working Group Stephen Smith: JFC Plastics Ltd

Contact The BPF Recycling Group Management Committee

Please complete the form below if you wish to contact the BPFRG Management Committee (please note your query will automatically be forward to all committee members)