Midlands plastics companies win technology support

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team May 9, 2003

The University of Warwick's Warwick Manufacturing Group and Rapra Technology have won GBP 2 million of funding to help West Midlands plastics companies in their adoption of new technology.

The University of Warwick's Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) and Rapra Technology have won GBP 2 million of funding to help West Midlands plastics companies in their adoption of new technology, environmental improvements and waste reduction activities.

The new money will benefit small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) involved in plastics materials, processing and products in the region.

The new European Regional Development Fund funding was won for the project by the Government Office of the West Midlands.

The initiative, entitled Plastics West Midlands, charges the partners, led by the Warwick Manufacturing Group, to undertake over 470 separate projects with West Midlands SMEs.

Each of these will involve at least five days of direct support and will be provided free of charge to the companies who participate to help them in adopting new technologies, in materials and waste reduction and to further enhance their approach to environmental issues.

Qualifying companies must employ fewer than 250 staff, must not be part of a larger group and must be located within the West Midlands Objective 2 region.

Warwick Manufacturing Group Researcher, and General Manger of the new project, Malcolm Harold, said: "This funding will help us work in partnership with local SMEs to give them easy access to the latest technology, eliminate unnecessary waste, and provide environmental enhancements".

Richard Walton, Marketing Manager at Rapra Technology says that "other than being based in the geographical area, all you need otherwise to qualify is to be involved in plastics product design or manufacture and wish to implement technological improvement.

No cash commitment is involved".