£1.3 million worth of recycling equipment was stolen from QC Polymer days before the assets were due to be sold at auction.
QC Polymer entered administration on 29 October 2024, with Hudson Weir appointed as joint administrator.
On 6 November, the assets were stolen a day before a public inspection of the equipment, which featured a comprehensive production line including state-of-the-art recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) technology.
When auctioneers arrived at the factory to prepare for the pre-auction public viewing, they found the entire building was empty.
GJ Wisdom & Co estimated it would have taken 7 days to dismantle the plant, and a fleet of 10 articulated lorries and two cranes to transport the machinery.
The inventory included:
- Bail Break, Trommel Separator, Cap & Label Separator, 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, as well as 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.
Hasib Howlader, Director of Hudson Weir, called the situation an “extraordinary turn of events”.
Howlader continued: “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 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, second hand, at well below market value.”
