One of our most recent customers was part of the food distribution sector supplying olives to consumers. The olives’ transportation process requires them to be packaged within large HDPE drums to cross Europe from Spain safely, which are then removed and separated into batches within the UK and nationally sent out for mass distribution. The HDPE drums used are then surplus to requirement and need to be removed from the site to allow for space ready for when the next delivery of olives arrives. Rather than sending each drum back to Spain, a largely costly operation to manage, Plastic Expert assisted with an efficient and affordable collection service.
How We Helped
We were able to offer the food distribution company a collection service by sending the HDPE drums to our domestic factory for recycling, both making it cost-effective and eco-friendly for our customer. As a highly flexible company, we booked in each lorry once a week and at a time that best suited the customers needs to work alongside their deliveries and avoid any clashes. Each lorry booked in collected a full empty load of HDPE drums to ensure the fastest possible service was undertaken.
Collection and Recycling
After the collection process, the drums were unloaded at our domestic factory to be taken through our ethical recycling process. Here they are taken off the pallets and then sent straight for shredding, with the drums then granulated into pellets and reintroduced back into the plastic manufacturing market to be made into new household and commercial products. The recycling process undertaken by Plastic Expert ensures that less raw materials are used when manufacturing and that we are saving vital energy used for new products.
Recycling Reports and Documentation
Once the service is completed, a full report of each collected load is sent through to us by our domestic factory and then sent to the customer (this is known as a Waste Transfer Note WTN). This documentation shows our customer and us the total amount of weight collected (with the pallet weight removed from this total). A full collected load, as shown in the photos, is approximately 3 tonnes in total. The recycling reports provide our customer with legal documents and an evaluation to realise how much money was saved from the services we provided.
HDPE Drum Collection
Environmental Impact and Cost Savings
Without Plastic Expert, the customer’s alternative was to send the HDPE drums back to Spain’s manufacturing company, becoming highly costly and inefficient. This was a very challenging process for several reasons, not only expensive but also detrimental to the environment. By coming to Plastic Expert, we ensured that we gave our customer the best possible solution in handling their waste, setting out a stress-free, green service to manage their waste appropriately.
