DOZENS of people have been made redundant after a Swindon engineering company which aimed to revolutionise the recycling of plastic went into administration.

Most of the 73 people who worked for Recycling Technologies Group have lost their jobs as the business struggled to find enough funding to develop its patented new way of turning waste into re-usable plastic.

Some staff have been retained to assist the joint administrators with the closing down of its sites in Swindon and Scotland.

Recycling Technologies formed in 2011 and developed a patented way of mass-recycling plastic waste into a new material so that it could be turned back into plastic rather than end up in landfill sites.

The business has its headquarters in Swindon along with a manufacturing facility and pilot plant, as well as another site in Perthshire.

Joint administrator Nick Holloway said: “Our immediate priority is to assist those members of staff who have been made redundant, providing them with the support and information they need to make claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.

“We will also be looking to realise the assets of the business and its intellectual property, and would encourage any interested parties to contact us as soon as possible.”

The pilot plant for the advanced recycling of polystyrene was expected to be up and running in the second half of 2022, and had been hailed as the first of its kind in Europe.

Bosses had spent the last few months trying to find extra investment to complete the development phase of its RT7000 machine, with the aim of having the first commercial-scale machine ready by this December and then mass producing it for companies around the world.

Last November, the Adver reported that Recycling Technologies had secured major industry and financial partners to provide third-party validation of the technology and business model and a spring-board for growth, including petrochemicals company Neste, the Althelia Sustainable Oceans Fund, and Mars, Nestle and Unilever.

But the process to find extra funding was unsuccessful in the end and the directors have since decided to file for administration.

Last Monday, Nick Holloway and Will Wright from Interpath Advisory were appointed joint adminstrators to Recycling Technologies Group plc, and Recycling Technologies Limited Operations then ceased immediately and most of the workforce were let go.

The process Recycling Technologies came up with turns hard-to-recycle plastic waste into an oil which can be sold as a chemical stock known as Plaxx.

We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.

Please report any comments that break our rules.

Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here

© 2001-2022. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. A Gannett Company. Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. HP10 9TY. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |

Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event.

As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles.

Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services.

These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community.

It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times.