A Tyneside recycling and haulage business will create 20 new jobs thanks to a multimillion-pound funding package.
Gateshead-based GAP Group, which specialises in recycling electronic waste, will use the £10m-plus finance deal from HSBC to purchase a new 50,000 sq ft polymer and metal separation plant that will separate the plastic components of electronical goods.
With the new machinery, the company will be able to safely breakdown difficult to recycle rigid plastics, melt them, and sell the raw material onto manufacturers to be used again in new products. The plant will be ready to use at the end of May, creating 20 jobs within the company – and it will also mean the business no longer has to ship certain parts of waste overseas to be recycled.
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Peter Moody, director at GAP Group, said the investment will help the company meet its net zero targets, and further steps are being made to produce 38% of its energy through solar power, aiding the new plastic plant’s power supply.
Mr Moody said: “The team at HSBC UK have really taken time to understand our industry and support the needs of our business. They’ve been fully invested in our goals to achieve both a circular solution and net zero and we look forward to celebrating this milestone and continuing our relationship with them.”
GAP Group was founded in 2005 and is now one of the largest electrical waste processors in the UK, with 150 employees. The firm’s other divisions include recycling cooling units, processing Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment derived plastics and general haulage and logistics.
It deconstructs electrical waste in its entirety, separating all materials like cable, copper, aluminium, circuit boards and plastics so that they can be reused. The company recycles around 2,000 fridges a day and recycles around 80% of all the used goods it receives with only a small percentage going to landfill.
Ben Foster, relationship director at HSBC UK, added: “It’s brilliant that GAP Group’s ambitions are helping us to reduce our recycling exports. Electronic devices can be complicated to recycle, so it’s been fantastic to work with a company that’s enabling them to become part of the circular economy.”
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