Leading Irish rotomoulder JFC Plastics (Tuam, Co Galway; www.jfc.ie) has made what it terms a strategic move into central and eastern Europe with the official opening of a new factory in Poland. The facility is located some 20 km from Warsaw on a greenfield site in a new industrial estate, with convenient motorway links into Russia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The 3,200 m², EUR 4m plant is the culmination of four years of expansion and will produce large rotational moulded components, primarily for the agricultural and environmental markets. It is also expected to be a major customer for some of the smaller parts produced in Ireland.

In March 2004, JFC bought the recycling businesses of Delleve Plastics and its sister company Reprise, merging them to create a new company, JFC-Delleve. This will be the largest recycler of plastic bottles in the UK, with capacity to convert more than 20,000 t of post consumer plastic bottles, mainly into corrugated drainage pipes. JFC group turnover is projected to reach EUR 25m within two years.