RESEARCH backed by a Swindon recycling firm has set out a global blueprint for developing facilities capable of recycling 90 per cent of household plastic waste.

Recycling Technologies, which recently opened its manufacturing plant in South Marston, has co-published the results of Project Lodestar - a report showing local authorities and government the potential for recycling plants to process all plastics, with the right investment.

The research found that by combining regular mechanical recycling and chemical recycling -known as feedstock - into an advanced plastics reprocessing facility, councils could process all plastics on one site.

This would mean residents being able to put every kind of plastic into one bin, potentially making savings of 25 per cent on recycling costs.

Chief executive Adrian Griffiths said: “The Lodestar project shows the commercial and environmental value of combining state-of-the-art mechanical and feedstock recycling.

“ It shows waste plastic has significant commercial and citizenship value for recycling companies, local government and packaging companies.

“Lodestar provides a valuable reference and guide to help waste businesses and governments meet their targets to recycle plastic to reuse again in packaging made out of recycled plastic and help prevent waste plastic damaging the environment.”

The company is currently crowdfunding to help it manufacture more than 1,300 RT7000 machines at its Swindon plant, which are capable of breaking down unrecyclable plastics back into a useful oil-like substance called Plaxx.

The results of Project Lodestar are guiding the first commercial use of the RT7000 at a site on the Binn Ecopark in Perthshire, Scotland, which has already got planning permission.

Known as Project Beacon the installation of the RT7000 will create the world’s first facility to recycle all plastic waste in one site, thanks to a £5.2m grant from the Scottish and UK Government

John Ferguson, managing director at Eco ideaM, which is working with the firm on the project, said: “Lodestar supports the foundations for Project Beacon in Scotland, where best in class mechanical and chemical plastic recycling technologies will sit side by side to accelerate the process of halting the unnecessary leakage of waste plastic into the environment by significantly increasing its ability to be recycled successfully.

“It is particularly encouraging that this project has also just gained the offer of £5.2m support from the Tay Cities Deal to develop the advanced plastics sorting facility concept as Phase 2 of Project Beacon.”

Recycling Technologies estimates the UK’s leftover plastic waste - which is often sent to landfill, incinerated, or shipped broad for processing - could be done by just 300 of the RT7000s machines.

It would mean that in just a few years’ time much of the unrecycled plastic used in the UK could be turned back to oil.