Assets to be sold after collapse of black plastics recycling firm

Administrators are seeking to sell the assets and intellectual property of a Swindon-based black plastics recycling business following its collapse. Recycling Technologies, which had developed patented technology for recycling black plastic waste from landfill sites into feedstock for plastic production, fell into administration after failing to secure investment.

The business was founded in 2011 and operated from a main manufacturing facility and plant in Swindon, as well as a secondary site in Perthshire, Scotland. The company’s patented technology, the RT7000 machine, processed hard-to-recycle plastic waste into a synthetic oil, Plaxx, that could be used in plastic production.

The company had predicted significant demand for its services, with around 368 million tonnes of plastic produced worldwide in 2019, a figure that some had forecast to reach at least one billion tonnes by 2050, only 12 per cent of which was projected to be recycled.

The company had raised around £10 million through grants and investment rounds, including £2 million in funding from Zero Waste Scotland. However, plans to have the technology operational by 2018 were hit by numerous delays, while a planned stock market float last year was abandoned.

This year, the company had sought to raise additional development to enable it to complete its development phase. However, these efforts proved unsuccessful, leaving the firm with insufficient funds for its day-to-day operations and prompting directors to appoint administrators.

Interpath Advisory’s Nick Holloway and Will Wright were appointed as joint administrators to Recycling Technologies Group plc and Recycling Technologies Ltd. The majority of the firm’s 73 employees were made redundant upon the appointment of the joint administrators, who will now wind down the group’s sites and seek to secure buyers for its assets and intellectual property, including the patented technology.

Joint administrator Nick Holloway said: "Our immediate priority is to assist those members of staff who have been made redundant, providing them with the support and information they need to make claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.”

"We will also be looking to realise the assets of the business and its intellectual property and would encourage any interested parties to contact us as soon as possible."

In its latest accounts at Companies House, for the year ending December 31 2020, the firm reported fixed assets of £2.98 million and current assets of slightly over £7 million. The company’s net assets at the time were valued at £7.3 million.


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