"600 tons of plastic waster are generated in Hungary each year, of which 6 0tons are PET bottles", the Ministry of Rural Development's State Secretary for Environmental Affairs stated in Mezőfalva, at the inauguration of a plastic recycling plant. Zoltán Illés stressed, that "the remaining 540 tons should also be recycled, and so the Government is calling on enterprises that deal in waste management to recycle, and on the public to selectively collect their household waste".

Budafilter 94 Ltd's PET bottle recycling plant was opened in Mezőfalfa, Fejér County on Thursday; the innovatively equipped plant was realised with the support of European Union funding.

"Green economy operators and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises could mean a breakthrough for the Hungarian economy. Both are true of Budafilter 94 Ltd" said the Ministry of National Economy's Deputy State Secretary for Domestic Economy Márk Áron Lenner at the inaugural ceremony.

The region's Member of Parliament László L. Simon stressed that one of the few areas in which Hungary's can make an economic breakthrough is in the field of innovation, of which the plant in Mezőfalva is an excellent example.

Company director Sándor Simon-Tóth told the press that the HUF 570 million project had received funding of HUF 155 million from three separate tenders (site development, waste utilisation and innovation). Within the framework of the tenders, the company has undertaken to increase the initial workforce of 10 to 50 people by 2015. The company primarily employs workers from disadvantaged backgrounds, he added. Production capacity at the 1200 ton capacity plant will be built around three product groups. Granulates are a raw material in the plastics industry, while the plant will also produce plastic tape and plastic well-pipes and water filters.

(MTI, Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)