Plans for £120m plastic film recycling facility

The industrial site has been dormant since 2021

Plans to build the UK's first large-scale plastic film recycling facility have been announced.

Endolys Ltd has pledged to invest up to £120m in the region after taking over the former Cleveland Bridge site in Darlington.

The chemical recycling company said it will create up to 120 jobs with the installation of pyrolysis oil production units at the Yarm Road facility.

Micahel Fox, CEO of Endolys, said the project would "create high quality jobs" at the site which had an "excellent building".

Councillor Chris McEwan, Darlington Borough Council's cabinet member for the economy, said it was a "significant step forward".

"It marks a proud moment in the town's journey toward a cleaner, greener future," he said.

Endolys said £60m had already been secured for the first phase of the development, which will involve six units processing 60,000 tonnes of shredded plastic film waste into 40,000 tonnes of pyrolysis oil each year.

During the second phase, costing a similar amount, a further 60,000 tonnes of film waste would be processed into 40,000 tonnes of oil, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

All of the waste will be sourced from municipal waste facilities.

Subject to planning and environmental approvals, phase one operations are expected to begin at the end of 2026.

'Forefront of innovation'

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said he hoped the plant "will breathe new life into the iconic former Cleveland Bridge site".

"As well as creating scores of well-paid, good-quality, skilled jobs, it will also put our region at the forefront of innovation in recycling and clean growth," he said.

Matt Vickers, MP for Stockton West, said: "This is fantastic news for Teesside.

"It means more jobs and opportunities for local people, the arrival of world-leading technology in our region, and the regeneration of the former Cleveland Bridge site."

Pyrolysis is a thermal decomposition process that can chemically break down plastic into its constituents oil and gas.

Plastic film is one of the most challenging plastic materials to recycle in the UK, with no current large-scale recycling facilities available and limited kerbside collection, Endolys said.