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On 6th November, the night before the public inspection of assets set for auction at QC Polymer in Bilston, Wolverhampton, it was discovered that the entire rPET recycling plant had been stolen.
QC Polymer entered administration on 29th October 2024, with Hudson Weir’s Hasib Howlader and Nimish Patel appointed as joint administrators. Hudson Weir engaged G J Wisdom & Co. as valuers and auctioneers to organise the sale of the state-of-the-art plastic bottle recycling facility, which featured cutting-edge technology for recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) production.
When Garry Wisdom of G J Wisdom & Co. arrived on 6th November to prepare the site for the scheduled public viewing, he found the premises empty. The entire plant, valued at £1.3 million, had been taken.
Hasib Howlader of Hudson Weir commented, “This is an extraordinary turn of events following the administration of QC Polymer. To understand the sheer scale of this robbery GJ Wisdom & Co estimated it would have taken 7 days to dismantle this plant and a fleet of 10 articulated lorries and two cranes to cart it away. The theft was clearly premeditated pre-planned and the factory building showed no signs of forced entry. The West Midlands Police and the Serious Fraud Squad have been informed and are investigating.”
The stolen items comprised highly specialised PET recycling machinery, which has a limited resale market. Hudson Weir has called on the recycling industry to be watchful for any equipment offered below market value.
The stolen equipment list includes:
Bail Break, Trommel Separator, Cap & Label Separator, and a Tomra Autosort Bottle Sorter with EM3 Metal Sensor
Ken Mills Aries Horizontal Bailer, Label Remover, Pre-Washer, Granulators, Floating Tanks, Centrifugal Dryers
Steam Boiler, Hot Wash Tanks, Hot Air Drying System, Blow Down Vessel, Tomra Optical Flake Sorter, Eddy Current Separator
Discharge Silo & Twin Bagging Stand, various connecting conveyors
Boge Direct Air UK Air Compressor with a 1000L Tank & Dryer
Two Polymer Preparation Systems
Dissolved Air Floatation System for water filtration
Howlader further explained, “We had secured significant interest in this inventory of specialised recycling equipment, with several interested parties ready to make offers when the sale date arrived on the 11th of November. This is a setback in our current plans as our duty as administrators is to realise as much for the business and its assets as we can returning to the creditor’s funds for distribution. We are asking the recycling industry to be extra vigilant and to keep an eye open for the type of equipment that has been stolen from QC Polymer. If any of the machinery is offered to you please contact me, Hasib Howlader on the following email and telephone numbers.”
To report any leads, please contact:
Hasib Howlader, Director
Email: hasib@hudsonweir.co.uk
Telephone: 020 7099 6086