Decision on €20 mill 24/7 Laois plastic recycling operation phase 2

The second phase of a large recycling plant in Portlaoise that will turn 35,000 tonnes of plastic into reusable pellets has been given the green light by Laois County Council. 

Rathdrinagh Land ULC trading as Irish Recycling was granted planning permission for the 4,450 sq metre plastics recycling facility subject to 24 conditions. The plant will be located at Knockmay in Portlaoise where the first phase of the development was approved last year.

The plans seek to construct a 4,450 sqm plastics recycling building together with associated carparking, yard, footways, drainage, services, boundary treatment and ancillary works at lands at Knockmay, Portlaoise, Co. Laois.” 

“The development will be Phase 2 of a recycling facility; Planning Permission for Phase 1 of the facility was granted in 2021 [Planning Register Ref. No. 21/394]. The development is for the purposes of an activity that will require a Waste Licence. An Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) will be submitted to the Planning Authority with the application,” the planning submission states. 

Laois County Council was told that the new development is linked to the operation of Phase 1 which was given the green light to recycle 35,000 tonnes of plastics, bottles and aluminium cans annually. 

County Hall's planning Department was told that the second facility would receive plastic flake produced from a range of materials ranging from packaging to pipes and drums.

Such waste would be sourced from waste management facilities, manufacturing and retail outlets and construction sites. The council was told the annual intake would be an additional 35,000 tonnes.

Planners were told that plastic flake will be processed to form pellets for reuse in plastics manufacturing. The company said the processing of other plastics will depend on it physical characteristics and on customer specifications. 

Phase two will operate on a 24/7 basis and it is expected to employ 40 employees on a shift basis. A waste licence will be needed.

Phase one of the development was approved by the council in July last year. The application at the site in Knockmay was made by Integrated Plastic Manufacturing Ltd which traded as Panda Waste Limited. 

That application sought to construct 6,108 sqm plastic bottle and aluminium can recycling plant, associated process wastewater treatment plant, car parking, footways, drainage, services, boundary treatment, landscaping together with all ancillary works at lands at Knockmay. The first phase also envisaged operating on a round the clock basis. 

The planning application was approved subject to 17 conditions.

Waste firm Panda which announced in December 2020 that it had signed an agreement to build the plant. Panda said it was collaborating with Trinity College Dublin and Science Foundation Ireland on the project as part of a circular economy application for the European Green Deal.

It claimed that the the new facility is projected to be operational by the end of 2021 and would process up to one billion plastic water and soft drinks bottles per year.

It said 20,000 tonnes of plastic bottles used in Ireland were being exported to the UK and Europe for processing and the plant in Portlaoise will have the capacity to serve the entire Irish market, eliminating the need to export.

Panda said at the time it was in advanced negotiations with a number of major soft drinks manufacturers to collect, sort and process the material into new bottles, Ultimately, many of these bottles will be collected using the zero emissions electric vehicles, facilitating a ‘closed loop’ recycling process.

Panda is part of the Beauparc utilities group. Des Crinion, Managing Director Recycling at Beauparc spoke about the important role to be played by the new plant.

"As a nation we are becoming increasingly aware of the need to improve our performance with regard to sustainability, waste generation, plastics and the circular economy. The processing of plastic waste produced in Ireland and its use now to produce new products helps keep precious resources in circular use," he said last December.

The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan TD also welcomed the development when it was announced last year.

"It’s a win for the environment, a win for jobs, a win for the region, and an example of how the green economy can be a source of employment in the future," he said.

Beauparc provides domestic and commercial waste management; renewable energy supply; recycling collection and processing; logistics; green fuels and energy recovery.