A London plant that opened in June is being billed as the first facility in the United Kingdom to recycle plastic bottles into food packaging.

The Closed Loop Recycling Ltd. plant will handle 35,000 tons a year of plastic bottles, turning them into recycled raw material for new food and drink packaging. The closed-loop aspect of the operation is unusual. Most recycling operations turn food packaging into textiles or other non-food items, due to stringent regulations governing the use of recycled materials for food-contact applications.

The Closed Loop Recycling plant is being funded by private equity, along with grants from Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a UK government-sponsored agency dealing with waste minimization and recycling. Customers include Coca-Cola Enterprises and the Marks & Spenser grocery chain.