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Plans to develop a new £45m plastic recycling plant in Swansea that will create over 100 new jobs have been announced. Waste plastic recycling firm Jayplas is opening the new advanced facility at the former Toyoda Gosei factory on the back of £12m in non-repayable capital financing from the Welsh Government (£6m each from Economy and Climate Change capital budgets).

The new plant will be capable of processing over 100,000 tonnes of flexible and rigid plastics a year, more than doubling Wales’ plastic recycling capacity. The Welsh Government said the £12m funding is premised on the delivery of conditioned reprocessing volumes and the creation of 105 full-time employment jobs.

Once fully operational, the facility is expected to reduce the carbon footprint of Wales by around 150,000 tonnes per year - the equivalent of taking 120,000 cars off the road contributing to the zero waste and net zero emissions by 2050.

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The facility will be developed over three phases: a mixed kerbside rigid plastics and film sorting plant; a bottle wash and extrusion plant; and a flexible packaging wash and processing plant.

Minister for the Economy Vaughan Gething said: “I’m delighted to welcome Jayplas to Swansea for this significant development and vote of confidence in our workforce and net zero ambitions.

"Increasing capacity to reprocess and recycle plastic here in Wales opens opportunities to create an innovative and sustainable industry. This project includes significant skilled and green job creation, supports our decarbonisation journey, increases our reprocessing and recycling capacity and supports a stronger, fairer and greener economy."

Minister for Climate Change Julie James said: “I am very pleased to see this facility being developed in Wales. It aligns with our commitment to move to a zero waste, net zero carbon Wales and is well timed as we work to bring in the new workplace recycling regulations in April next year, which will further improve the supply of high-quality plastic for recycling.”

Jayplas commercial manager Kerry O'Neill said: “Jayplas are delighted to announce we are opening a plastics Processing and Manufacturing plant in Swansea. We have worked closely with the Welsh Government to expand our operations into Wales. We will utilise the latest, state of the art technology to ensure we have market leading facilities producing the highest quality products and bring long term investment and sustainable employment to the area.”

Shigenori Matsuo, managing director of Toyoda Gosei º£½ÇÊÓƵ Ltd, said: "I am delighted that TGº£½ÇÊÓƵ has created a lasting legacy for the site in Swansea to provide Jayplas with a strong foundation for developing a state of the art facility, investment, growth and employment in the area."