CIWM visits IPL Brightgreen to see rigid plastics recycling in action
On Wednesday 24 June 2026, IPL Brightgreen welcomed the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) to its rigid plastics recycling and remanufacturing site in Castleford, West Yorkshire. The visit gave CIWM a first hand view of how the business turns post consumer and post industrial rigid plastics into high quality recyclate and finished products here in the UK.
Gareth Morton, attending on behalf of CIWM, joined the IPL Brightgreen team for a guided tour and a wider discussion on domestic reprocessing, recyclate quality and the role of closed loop systems in meeting producer responsibility obligations.
A first hand look at UK reprocessing
Plant Director Ben Johnson opened the visit, introducing the business and the team. Jonathan Attwood then presented and led the site tour, supported by other members of staff, taking guests through the full reprocessing journey from material intake and sorting to washing, extrusion and remanufacture. Seeing the process from start to finish made clear what reliable domestic reprocessing capacity looks like at scale, and why it matters at a time when producers are under growing pressure to demonstrate genuine recycled content.
With packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) reshaping how the value of recycling is accounted for, visible and verifiable UK reprocessing has rarely been more relevant. The visit underlined the part that established reprocessors play in keeping good material in circulation and out of export or disposal.
Ben Johnson, Plant Director at IPL Brightgreen, said: “It was a pleasure to host CIWM and to show the process from start to finish. Domestic reprocessing has a vital role to play, and the more our sector can see how it works in practice, the stronger the case for keeping material here in the UK.”
Quality and compliance at the core
In his presentation, Jonathan Attwood set out the controls that sit behind the recyclate IPL Brightgreen produces. The detail covered material traceability, consistency of output and the standards that give end markets confidence in recycled plastic. For brands and manufacturers building recycled content into their products, that assurance is the difference between a claim and a credible commitment.
Closing the loop through the buy back scheme
Samantha Smallwood talked guests through procurement and the buy back scheme, explaining how the business sources material and works with customers to take back used rigid plastics for reprocessing. The scheme supports a genuinely closed loop, helping customers return material to productive use rather than treating it as waste, while strengthening supply of the feedstock that quality recycling depends on.
Shared ground on circularity and producer responsibility
For CIWM, the visit offered a clear example of circular economy principles working in practice. Seeing reprocessing first hand helps build the evidence base and confidence that underpin recycled content decisions, and knowledge sharing of this kind is central to CIWM’s role in raising standards across the resource and waste sector.
Gareth Morton, of CIWM, said: “Visits like this are invaluable. Seeing rigid plastics reprocessing first hand, alongside the quality and compliance work behind it, helps build confidence in recycled content and shows what a working circular economy looks like.”
The discussion returned throughout to a common theme. Building a credible circular economy for plastics depends on domestic reprocessing that is transparent, well run and held to a high standard, and on the relationships across the value chain that keep good material flowing.
About IPL Brightgreen
IPL Brightgreen is a rigid plastics recycling and remanufacturing business based in Castleford, West Yorkshire. It reprocesses post consumer and post industrial rigid plastics into high quality recyclate and new products, and operates a buy back scheme that helps customers return used material to productive use.