Summit Systems has officially and “regrettably” announced the closure of its recycling business Boomerang Plastics after four years of business. The site is being cleared with equipment sold.
PRW exclusively reported the closure in January.
Boomerang Plastics was established in 2011 and expanded rapidly on the back of a contract to process used Muller yogurt pots. It comprised a processing line developed to separate the unusual mixture of part-clean plastic pots, yogurt, printed wrappers, card and foil.
Warwick University were involved in the initial line design that addressed the issues of multiple materials and colours.
A line was conceived that harnessed cutting-edge density separation technology, cold washing, hot washing, chemical separation and colour picking. Specialist software was used to map out the design intricacies of the plant.
Boomerang sourced premises in Tamworth, centrally located to Müller's Midland Dairy network and suited to the industrial size equipment required for high volume processing.
Its parent company, Summit Systems led the installation sourcing equipment from a variety of international destinations, and linking the line together via its team of in-house technical experts.
In March 2011, the plant became operational and was soon up to speed processing 150-200 tonnes of waste per week, at a quality that enabled circulation back into the packaging chain.
An arson attack in 2014 led to a relocation where electricity prices and insurance rocketed. The plummeting oil price and a lack of incentive to recycle in the UK forced Mike Jordan, managing director of plastics ancillary business Summit Systems and owner of Boomerang Plastics, to make the decision to close the business at the end of 2015.
He said: “We are of course disappointed with the outcome, but, we have learnt some valuable lessons and have walked away ensuring all our creditors were paid. We will now be focusing on driving forward our successful new recycling systems business ‘Summit Recycling Systems' which will design and build MRF and PRF sorting plants.
“We were buffered by our core ancillary business doing so well thanks in part to a new partnership with Tria granulators leading to our biggest order ever. It was with a heavy heart we closed the door but I now have the freedom to focus on making our service even better for our customers.
“The experience has helped our other businesses by providing insight and a very detailed understanding of the recycling chain.”