Plastecowood produces Smartawood, a wood alternative created from recovered plastic packaging waste usually bound for landfill or incineration.
Longer in use and re-use
The Innovate UK vision for materials and manufacturing is a future in which the UK is a leader in the development of sustainable materials. In the coming decades, UK manufacturing will be net zero and resource efficient, with materials lasting longer in use and re-use.
Plastecowood has developed a wood alternative that can help achieve Innovate UK’s vision.
Smartawood is made by recycling recovered plastic waste that is usually dumped in landfill sites or sent overseas to be incinerated. Unlike wood, it won’t rot, it doesn’t require maintenance, aside from the occasional jet wash, and it can be recycled at the end of its life and processed back into pristine Smartawood.
From waste to ‘wood’
Henning von Spreckelsen, Plastecowood Director. Credit: Plastecowood
The company estimates that each tonne of Smartawood manufactured uses more than 25,000 pieces of plastic packaging waste.
Additionally, at least 700kg of carbon is saved from landfill or incineration, and on average, two and a half trees are prevented from being felled.
Plastecowood was a winner in the Santander X Global Environmental Challenge in 2021. The business used the £2 million funding package it received from Santander to grow its production by 300% and is now capable of producing 6,000 tonnes of Smartawood a year.
Smartawood is used in a range of products offered by Plastecowood, from soundproofed construction hoarding to multi-purpose sports facilities.
Carlsberg has spent over £1 million on pub tables from the company. Clients in other sectors include:
- Airbus
- Balfour Beatty
- INEOS
- Knorr-Bremse
- Marks & Spencer
- RSPB
- Tesco
Shaping a carbon-neutral, resilient UK manufacturing industry
Plastecowood’s low-carbon manufacturing process is an excellent example of how the UK’s manufacturing sector can help address the urgent challenge of climate change. There is also an urgent need to reduce reliance on imports and to make the UK’s supply chains more resilient.
By using plastic waste instead of timber, the UK would not have to rely on imported trees for feedstock, instead using plastic waste generated domestically that would otherwise be disposed of or incinerated.
Companies like Plastecowood are opening up markets and creating job opportunities in an exciting area of manufacturing.
Bruce Adderley, Director for Make and Use at Innovate UK, said:
Like every other nation, the UK has the challenge of dealing with mixed plastic packaging waste. Diverting waste materials from landfill or incineration to enable life extension and re-use will be critical for the resilient, net zero future we are all working hard to deliver.
Good for the environment, good for society
Innovate UK granted Plastecowood £78,974 in 2022 to develop a prototype of its reusable Smartawood construction hoarding.
Plastecowood partnered with the University of Surrey’s Department of Engineering, which provided technical studies of the material and the assembled hoarding.
Plastecowood Director, Henning von Spreckelsen, said:
It enabled us to do things we would not have done by ourselves. We learned about our own products through our partnership with the university. We engaged with a new customer demographic, the construction industry.
We’re also interested in working with local authorities as well as authorities in rail and road transport, as we see value in reducing noise and providing resources such as fences or acoustic barriers that will last and not need replacing again and again.
Top image: Credit: aydinmutlu, iStock, Getty Images Plus via Getty Images