In a major milestone for the recycling industry, the UK is set to open its largest plastic recycling plant in Corby, Northamptonshire. The facility will work with the UK’s largest supermarkets to recycle plastic into pellets ready to be used again. 

close-up of plastic bottles in recycling storage.

EuroKey by Reconomy is set to be fully operational later this year. With the goal of processing 38,000 tonnes of plastic. It is a 12820m² building, costing £20 million (€23 million). 

John Dhillon, Managing Director of Eurokey, said: “This is an exceptional milestone for our business and for the UK’s plastics recycling industry. This facility will play a major role in increasing domestic recycling capacity and reducing reliance on virgin plastic by keeping high-quality material in circulation. It will also benefit the local economy”.

The UK is heavily reliant on exporting plastic material due to the lack of domestic infrastructure capable of recycling material on a large scale. 

In 2024, it was revealed that one UK council, Buckinghamshire Council recycled waste in countries as far away as India and Thailand. 

The full-closed loop system will enable a change of stagnated circular economy in the UK. The EuroKey facility is located 10 miles from a storage facility in Kettering. It is hoped this will reduce export dependency, lower transportation costs and carbon emissions, and reduce reliance on virgin plastics. 

The site provides 30 new jobs to the local economy.