Fost Plus, Morssinkhof to build fifth new plastics recycling centre in Belgium

Waste management organisation Fost Plus and recycling company Morssinkhof Plastics Belgium have announced plans for the construction of  a new plant that will recycle plastic packaging from disposed of in Belgium’s blue bag.

Introduced gradually across Belgium, the blue bag can be used to dispose of virtually all plastic packaging waste, including yoghurt pots, butter tubs and plastic bags. When Fost Plus first launched the blue bag, it was soon realised that as the amount and types of waste disposed of in the bags gradually expanded, new recycling chains and more recycling capacity would be needed.

While the recycling chains for plastic bottles and flasks had been in place for years, this was not the case for materials such as plastic films. By 2021, five high-tech centres and three three new recycling centres had been established, with two more planned. The fourth, announced last year, with a total annual capacity of 40,000 tonnes is now under construction.  Called  MOPET Belgium, it is located in Neufchâteau on the Ardenne Logistics business park of the IDELUX intermunicipal company. It is scheduled to go into operation at the end of 2023.

Now, Fost Plus and Morssinkhof Plastics Belgium have joined forces to build the fifth and for now, final new recycling plant is projected to handle around 40,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste annually, recycling this into granulate or pellets. This recyclate will be supplied to the local Belgian market as much as possible.

The new plant, which is being built in Lommel, will be operational in October 2024, and will recycle polypropylene (PP) (such as butter tubs and ready-meal trays) and polyethylene (such as shampoo and milk bottles and flasks) packaging into raw materials for producing new packaging.

Fost Plus plans to provide the centre with 24,000 tonnes of PMD blue bag waste sourced from Belgian households. The 4.1-hectare recycling centre represents an investment of €30 million and will be built at the Kristalpark III business park in Lommel; the accessibility of this location via motorways, railways, and waterways, as well as its proximity to the province in general, is expected to provide strategic added value. Kristalpark III is also home to the largest solar park in the Benelux, with its 300,000 solar panels expected to contribute to the factory’s sustainability.

“We are very pleased with this new factory,” said Wim Geens, managing director of Fost Plus. “Thanks to the good reflexes and efforts of our compatriots, who ensure that all packaging ends up in the blue bag, we are today among the European top in terms of recycling. The new plant is the final step in the creation of a local circular economy that makes Belgium a recycling hub in the heart of Europe.

In 2020, only 9% of plastic packaging materials was recycled in Belgium; the rest went to neighbouring countries. Now, thanks to the five new recycling centres, from 2025 on, more than 75% of plastic packaging will be recycled domestically.

“It has always been our intention to keep this recycling as close to home as possible. This new factory is the final step in the creation of a local circular economy, making Belgium a recycling hub in the heart of Europe.”

“As a pioneer in plastic recycling and a major player in plastics processing, we are pleased to be able to build this new factory,” added Eric Morssinkhof, owner of Morssinkhof Plastics. “By using the latest recycling technologies, we will make a major contribution to closing the loop of HDPE and PP packaging on the Belgian market. We are therefore proud to be able to expand our activities in Belgium, where we have been active since 1990, this way.”

With the introduction of the New Blue Bag, the construction of the five new sorting centres to handle the additional packaging and the five new recycling centres, more than 1 billion euros have been invested in the local circular economy in Belgium, resulting in 550 direct and twice as many indirect new jobs.