QC Polymer entered administration on 29 October, with Hasib Howlader and Nimish Patel of Hudson Weir appointed joint administrators.
On 6 November, on the eve of the public inspection of assets to be sold at auction at the company, based in Bilston, Wolverhampton, it was found that the entire rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate) recycling plant had been stolen.
Hudson Weir had instructed G J Wisdom & Co. as valuers and auctioneers to oversee the sale of QC Polymer’s plastic bottle recycling plant.
On 6 November, when Garry Wisdom of G J Wisdom & Co. arrived at the factory to prepare for the pre-auction public viewing, Wisdom found that the building was empty, with the entire plant missing, having been stolen.
Joint administrator Howlader said: “This is an extraordinary turn of events following the administration of QC Polymer. To understand the sheer scale of this robbery G J Wisdom & Co. estimated it would have taken seven days to dismantle this plant and a fleet of 10 articulated lorries and two cranes to cart it away.
“The theft was clearly premeditated [and] 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 inventory of the equipment that was removed from the site was highly specialist PET recycling machinery with a limited market for its sale and disposal.
“So, we are asking the industry to be on the lookout for this type of technology, being offered, secondhand, at well below market value.”
The inventory comprised of specialist plastic bottle recycling equipment including a bail break, trommel separator, cap and label separator, Tomra Autosort bottle sorter with EM3 metal sensor, a steam boiler, hot wash tanks, and a hot air drying system plus two polymer preparation systems, a dissolved air floatation system for water filtration, and much more.
Howlader said the business had secured significant interest in the inventory, with several interested parties ready to make offers when the sale date arrived on 11 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 creditors’ 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.”
MRW reported last week that QC Polymer had cited pressure from high utility costs as the main cause for its fall into administration.
The publication said that the move had come despite efforts for growth funded by India-based Mysore Petro Chemicals, which acquired a controlling stake in the company in January.
QC Polymer’s website is now unavailable and ‘under maintenance’, although on its LinkedIn page, which is still live, the company had said it was “helping drive the UK’s circular economy and journey to Net Zero by creating quality, recycled polymer with a reduced carbon footprint over virgin products”.
