MORE than 30 jobs have been saved at a plastics company which signed a development deal last year to recycle waste chewing gum.

Petlon Polymers, based in the Ward Industrial Estate on Lydney’s Mead Lane, went into administration on August 15, having experienced working capital problems following a change of ownership.

The compounder and polymer recovery company, which specialises in engineering thermoplastics, has now been bought by United Arab Emirates-based waste management company Visionscape.

It was officially launched as Vision Petlon Polymers at the Birmingham NEC last week, at the plastics industry’s annual exhibition, Interplas UK.

Visionscape board chair­man Lord Simon Reading said: “It’s a great pleasure of mine to announce that the Visionscape Group has bought Petlon Polymers. The acquisition reinforces our position to diversify and to support the circular economy.”

He said both companies’ “homogenous ethical approach” made the partnership a “perfect match”.

Joint administrator Geoffrey Bouchier, of Duff and Phelps, said: “We are pleased to announce the successful sale of the Petlon Polymers business to Visionscape, which has facilitated business continuity for its customer base and supply chain, and has preserved the jobs of its entire workforce.”

Harry Ackerman, executive director of Visionscape, added: “The acquisition of the Petlon business is a complementary addition to Visionscape’s global waste management solution as we continue to seek innovative and environmentally effective solutions for our customers. 

“We are delighted to have completed the transaction and look forward to working with the existing management team and the company’s key stakeholders to take the business to new heights.”

As Petlon Polymers Ltd, founded in 1978, the company signed a joint development agreement with Gumdrop Ltd in May 2016 to develop

innovative compounds made with recycled waste chewing gum. 

The ground-breaking project was designed to incorporate gum into compounds for a wide range of applications from packaging to consumer goods – offering a closed loop solution.

Anna Bullus, managing director of Gumdrop Ltd, said at the time: “Gumdrop was founded to tackle the global problem of chewing gum waste and we’re the first company in the world to recycle and process chewing gum into a range of new compounds that can be used in the rubber and plastics industry.

“This exciting new development utilising Pelton’s extensive Polymer knowledge is designed to take the compounds further up the polymer value chain.”

Petlon had experienced working capital difficulties in earlier this year following a change of ownership structure.