Shabra Group, Ireland’s only fully integrated reprocessing, recycling, manufacturing and supply company for plastic bottles and film, has officially opened a new €3.5 million plastic bottle sorting plant at its site in Castleblayney, County Monaghan. The state-of-the-art extension, supported by the Enterprise Ireland Growth Fund, is the only one of its kind here and among the best in Europe.
Irish-owned Shabra, which employs 49 workers, collects, reprocesses and recycles waste plastic bottles and film. The new plastic bottle sorting plant reprocesses low-value post-consumer plastic bottles and film into value-added recyclate which would otherwise go to landfill or be exported.
It can sort over 40,000 tonnes of mixed plastic bottles each year. The investment is expected to create 35 new jobs.
“Shabra is a key client of Enterprise Ireland both in terms of its importance to the border region and as a leader in the clean-tech sector – one of Ireland’s critical high-growth sectors,” points out Frank Ryan, chief executive of Enterprise Ireland.
”In positioning ourselves as a leading Irish recycling company, Shabra is keen to demonstrate that, through a strong commitment to innovation and caring for the environment, we can change the way we think about waste plastics and not only make a difference to the environment but bring real economic benefits, too,” says Oliver Brady, joint managing director of Shabra Group.
Established in 1986 by Rita Shah and Oliver Brady, Shabra Group has three separate companies: Shabra Recycling, Shabra Plastics and Packaging and Shabra Polymex. Three key products manufactured on site are plastic bags, sacks for industrial use, refuse sacks, bespoke bags; plastic recyclate; and wood chip and shredded paper used by the equestrian industry and farmers. Shabra also supplies thousands of products covering catering and disposables, overprinted paper and plastic bags, packaging and wrapping products.