The recycling of waste rubber and plastic has been going on for years of course – but, thanks to financial support from the EU, Rosehill Polymers in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, has benefitted from business loans from Finance Yorkshire to develop new technology and new products and new production machinery to increase both its capacity and its product range. This has enabled Rosehill to break into new markets in Europe and elsewhere.
Finance Yorkshire has been developed as part of the European JEREMIE initiative. The acronym stands for “.” and is capitalised by grants from UK Government, European Regional Development Fund and finance from the European Investment Bank.
Originally set up in 1988 to make polyurethane materials, Rosehill Polymers now use recycled rubber and plastics to produce a variety of slabs, beams, kerbs and shaped surfaces suitable for use on highways, railways, civil engineering projects and sports areas.
They are putting to good use part of the 450,000 tonnes of waste tyre rubber which accumulates in the UK every year, which they recycle into items such as speed cushions, carriageway surfaces at level crossings and along tram tracks, anti-trespass areas and edge beams to protect and preserve roadway or path edges.
However their recent expansion and drive into new export markets was given its impetus by the original £250,000 loan from Finance Yorkshire underpinned by European Union funding. This in turn leveraged further funding to enable an eventual £4 million total investment to set them on the road to global success.
But how will small to medium firms fare for Regional Devlopment Funding in the future if we leave the EU?