A great new opportunity has arisen in Bradford to get involved in PET recycling.

PET is one of the plastics used to make drinks bottles. Coke, lemonade, spring water, cider are sold in huge quantities in the familiar rounded plastic bottles. These are made of PET and will have a arrowed triangle with a number one inside. This is the symbol for PET.

Pennine Fibre Industries Ltd can recycle 300 tonnes per week of PET into polyester staple. They want to increase the amount of post-consumer PET that they recycle to 8000 tonnes per year. That's equivalent to 240 million bottles! This will attract new investment and create 28 new jobs. Current estimates suggest that 200,000 tonnes of PET goes to landfill every year in the UK.

This is going to require an enormous collection effort. The price for PET is currently £200/tonne. Thirty large plastic bottles weigh about 1 kilo so are worth about 20 pence. The bottle lid and the collar round the neck of the bottle must be discarded as they are made from a different plastic.

If you have suggestions about how greater recovery of PET can be achieved or would like to be involved please give Mike Woodman a call on 01274 718420 or email: beat.main@virgin.net