A PAINTS giant has made a major investment in new machinery allowing it to recycle plastic containers and turn them into garden furniture for community projects.

The granulating machine has been installed at Crown Paints and allows for containers to be converted into new material so it can be sent off to make items such as garden benches.

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The furniture created will be donated to community projects which Crown supports.

The equipment, which has cost several thousand pounds, will support Nimtech, an award-winning social enterprise scheme partnered with the firm, which provides job opportunities for the long-term unemployed.

Nimtech has provided the business with waste recovery and recycling services across the UK but the introduction of the machinery will mean that containers will no longer need to be taken off site to be reprocessed.

Mark Lloyd, sustainability manager, said: “The granulator adds a new dimension to our capabilities with Nimtech, enabling the team to prepare on site all used plastic containers, ready for reprocessing.

“Of major environment benefit is the fact the plastic containers no longer need to be transported off site in bulk to be granulated, therefore removing the large-scale transport and mileage implications for thousands of containers.”

The machine granulates the plastic containers into small pieces, which are bagged and then sent off site for re-constituting into new plastic products.

Crown Paints originally introduced the Nimtech partnership to its Darwen headquarters in 2012 as part of its award-winning Earthbalance sustainability programme.

The initiative is focused on changing the way company does business in terms of social responsibility and the environment and has helped support the ethical sourcing of materials.

Cllr Jim Smith, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s executive member for environment, said: “It is so great that Crown is continuing to invest in Darwen. We see this as so positive.

“The company continue to provide quality jobs and invest in the environment.

“I think this is a great investment and shows they are willing to develop the Darwen site.”