Chemical recycling company Endolys has chosen Tees Valley to build what it describes as the UK’s first large-scale facility for recycling plastic film.

The plant will be sited on the former Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company works in Darlington, a 29-acre industrial plot that has been unused since 2021.

The project will be delivered in two phases and create up to 120 jobs.

The first phase, for which £60m ($80m) of funding is already in place, will comprise six production units designed to process 60,000 tonnes of shredded plastic film waste annually and convert it into 40,000 tonnes of pyrolysis oil.

A second phase, contingent on further investment of a similar scale, would double those throughput and output figures.

All feedstock is intended to come from municipal waste facilities. Subject to securing planning and environmental approvals, Endolys expects phase one operations to begin at the end of 2026.

Endolys CEO Michael Fox stated: “This is an exciting project that will not only create high quality jobs in the growing recycling industry, but will also provide a major boost the circular economy by diverting plastic waste including many single use items such as cups, straws and plastic bags away from incineration and landfill, converting them back into a useful product.”

The plant will use technology developed by Niutech Environment Technology Corporation, which Endolys notes is employed in 40 plants worldwide.

Installation work will be carried out by Tees Valley engineering company Intelect.

Endolys has also reached a commercial agreement with a global oil distribution and trading company to purchase the plant’s entire output.

The pyrolysis oil will be stored at Navigator Terminals’ facility at Seal Sands for export into the European petrochemical market.