Plastic pipes

UK plastic pipe manufacturer JFC Plastics has won top honours at the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management Awards for Environmental Excellence.

UK plastic pipe manufacturer JFC Plastics has won top honours at the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) Awards for Environmental Excellence, which recognise and reward best practice in the sustainable management of waste and resources and reduction of environmental impact.

The award for Sustainable Product Development of the Year was presented to JFC Plastics by sponsor Greater Manchester Waste at an event held at the Dorchester Hotel on London's Park Lane on 31 October 2007.

JFC Plastics won the award for its Twinwall pipe, an environmentally friendly alternative to concrete which is made from 100 per cent recycled plastic and is, in turn, fully recyclable.

The company not only manufactures the product, but has linked up with plastic bottle collection schemes throughout the UK to reprocess the plastic collected. At its recycling plant in St Helen's, JFC separates, washes and converts the recovered HDPE (high density polyethylene), which is then used in the production of the pipes.

The judges particularly praised JFC's use of recovered plastic bottles and were impressed that the end product was not only recycled and recyclable but is better for the environment than the original.