The first ever UK-wide recycled content HDPE bottle will be available from next year, following a landmark agreement between Nampak Plastics Europe and Closed Loop London.

From Summer 2008, plastics recycler and reprocessor, Closed Loop London, will provide Nampak, one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of rigid plastic containers, with up to 6000 tonnes of recycled High Density Polyethylene (rHDPE) each year for use at its UK production facilities.

The rHDPE will enable Nampak to supply its bottles produced in the UK with 10% recycled content. The move, which has been a year in development, is a forerunner to a 30% rHDPE content bottle that the company expects to have in production in 2009.

The material will be reprocessed in a new production facility at Closed Loop London’s £13m plastics recycling and reprocessing plant in Dagenham. At the plant, HDPE bottles taken from the UK post consumer waste stream will go through a process involving cleaning, heating and reprocessing to turn them into flakes.

The news follows on from recently announced trial with Marks and Spencer in which Nampak is supplying the retailer with 10% rHDPE content bottles for its organic milk range.

James Crick, Commercial Director, Nampak Plastics Europe, commented: "This is a landmark deal for HDPE and marks the start of an environmental revolution in plastic milk bottles. The agreement with Closed Loop London will make recycled content HDPE bottles widely available in the UK for the first time."

Crick continued: "Our recent consumer research highlighted the popularity of HDPE milk bottles for their strength and practicality. The contract with Closed Loop London allows us to improve the green credentials of a product that is already a firm consumer favourite."

Closed Loop London’s Managing Director, Chris Dow comments: "This innovation is a world first in milk bottle recycling, propelling the UK to the forefront of best recycling practice. We hope that the creation of an environmentally sound end market opportunity for recycled HDPE will actively encourage full Government support for consistent milk bottle collection across all kerbside collection schemes – making it the sensible and simple solution for all consumers wanting to recycle their used milk bottles."

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For further information about Nampak, please contact Alister Foye or Paul Davison at Proteus on 01295 279 626 or email alister@proteuspr.co.uk

Notes to Editors

• Nampak Plastics Europe is one of Europe’s largest manufacturer’s of rigid plastic containers to the Food and Drink industry
• Nampak had a £100 million turnover and supplied over 2 billion containers during the financial year 2005/2006
• The company currently operates from seven sites across the UK including five in-plant ("through the wall") operations which are situated on customer sites
• Closed Loop London (CLL) is a leader in providing viable and sustainable options for the reuse of waste plastics in the UK.
• CLL works across a variety of sectors to manage the input of compliant packaging materials. Closed loop recycling involves the provision of product that can be taken back after use, recycled and remanufactured into new end use products, thereby manipulating the inputs so as to create waste materials that have value at the collection and reprocessing stages of their product lifecycle.
• This system is a proven, transportable model developed by CLL’s founding parent company, Visy Closed Loop. This model has been in use for over 10 years in Australia and has been applied to many different industries. Its holistic approach has resulted in significant environmental, financial, operational, food safety and marketing benefits that go beyond mere compliance.
• CLL is building the first PET and HDPE reprocessing facility in the UK,processingn 35,000 tonnes of mixed bottles to a food grade standard
• More information can be found at www.closedlooplondon.com