Crown ramps up recycling efforts with new investment

Crown Paints has invested in new machinery which converts old paint containers into a new type of material, which can then be reprocessed to make garden benches, planters and other street furniture.

NIMTECH, a social enterprise providing employment opportunities for the hard to reach and long-term unemployed, has played a key role in Crown’s sustainability programme - providing the business with waste recovery and recycling services across the UK.

“It granulates the plastic containers into small pieces, which are bagged and then sent off site for reconstituting 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, launched in 2008.

Earthbalance is focused on changing the way Crown Paints does business in terms of social responsibility, the environment and the economy.

The partnership with NIMTECH also supports the circular economy, a key element of Earthbalance. This represents a move away from just making, using and disposing of goods and instead keeping them in use for as long as possible, and then recovering and regenerating the associated products and materials accordingly. NIMTECH also plays an important part in the Kick Out The Can scheme which Crown Paints runs annually. Under the initiative, which takes place around Easter, homeowners are invited to return old paint containers to their local Crown Decorating Centre. The containers and any remaining paint inside are recycled, with the paint then donated to help brighten community projects nationwide.