Recycling Technologies has opened its second campaign to raise a minimum of £1.3m with Crowdcube as it seeks to build and open its first commercial plant in Scotland. This follows its successful debut Crowdcube funding round in February this year which closed at £3.7m, well ahead of its scheduled completion date.  Recycling Technologies’ crowdfunding campaign represents an exciting opportunity to be part of a community dedicated to changing the story of plastic.

The recent closure of Asian export markets for waste plastic, UK landfill taxes and public outcry at plastic pollution, are encouraging the plastic and packaging industry to increase the use of recycled plastic in its packaging and products. The Chancellor’s pledge, announced in the most recent Budget statement, to tax plastic packaging made with less than 30 per cent recycled content and to review the UK’s Producer Responsibility System will further stimulate demand for recycling capacity.

Recycling Technologies has developed and patented a plastics recycling machine, the RT7000, that turns plastic waste back into oil called Plaxx® from which new plastics can be made. The machine heats up the plastic in the absence of oxygen to break the waste plastic down into Plaxx®.  This process allows the RT7000 to recycle plastics commonly considered unrecyclable such as plastic film, and laminated plastics such as food pouches and even crisp packets.  These unrecyclable plastics are currently incinerated or buried.  Furthermore, the RT7000s are modular allowing them to be transported and installed within existing waste management facilities where the majority of the residual plastic waste already arises. By taking the solution to the problem, financial and environmental costs of transporting residual plastic waste to an incinerator or landfill are reduced. The Company has a pilot plant, the Beta Plant, in Swindon that is processing mixed plastic waste and produces Plaxx.

The Company is now about to embark on the commercial manufacturing of the RT7000. This starts the next stage of its business, to develop its first full scale RT7000 and then assemble and deliver an initial fleet of twelve RT7000s to meet the anticipated demand for urgently-needed plastics recycling capacity.
The success of Recycling Technologies’ earlier fundraising round has allowed the company to:

  • Open a new 25,000 square foot assembly facility in Swindon which is planned to have capacity to ramp up production to c.200 machines a year
  • Gain planning permission for the first commercial machine to be installed at Binn Ecopark waste site in Perthshire in 2019.
  • Establish, subject to contract, sales and distribution channels for all Plaxx® from the first 12 RT7000s.
  • Build a growing pipeline of interest from waste operators in the RT7000, both in the UK and internationally.


Adrian Griffiths, CEO Recycling Technologies said: “We look forward to welcoming new investors from the Crowdcube community and want to thank all who have supported us so far. The company’s approach is commercially attractive.  Waste companies in the UK are paying around £100 per tonne for the disposal of plastic waste to landfill and incineration. With an RT7000, waste operators can turn this plastic waste liability into a valuable revenue stream from Plaxx® estimated to be valued today around £300 per tonne. These attractive economics are projected to offer machine operators a less than three-year payback.  The results of the testing of our pre-production Beta Plant in Swindon have been strong and are generating significant levels of interest from waste sites looking to become an early adopter of this commercial solution to turn waste plastic in a valuable asset.

“After the initial build of the company’s fleet, we plan to grow the sales of RT7000s and drive further expansion into the UK, and global export markets.” 

Mr Robert Langstraat, CEO, InterChem, a company in the petroleum and petrochemical industry with turnover in excess of $5bn, and a shareholder, said: “We are delighted with our investment of £1m we made earlier this year in Recycling Technologies.  The company is well placed for its next stage of development to build its first commercial RT7000 and the manufacture of an initial fleet of 12 RT7000s. There is significant interest from chemical companies wanting to buy Plaxx® for use as a feedstock in plastic-making processes and we are excited by the growth opportunities this market offers.”

Recycling Technologies aims to install capacity to recycle 10 million tonnes of plastic by 2027, producing seven million tonnes of Plaxx annually to replace fossil oils.  This target will more than triple Europe’s current waste plastic recycling capacity.

The company plans to provide jobs in high-value manufacturing as well as apprenticeships and by the end of 2026 is planning to employ more than 600 staff as it expands its operations across all functions.