Birdhill company Envetec secures landmark utility contract as Scottish Water becomes first in the world to use GENERATIONS technology to recycle laboratory plastics.
Irish cleantech company Envetec Sustainable Technologies has secured a significant international customer win after Scottish Water became the first utility company in the world to deploy its Generations technology to tackle laboratory plastic waste.
The Birdhill-based business announced today that Scottish Water has adopted the technology across its laboratory operations, creating a new route for recycling plastics that were previously difficult or impossible to recover due to microbiological contamination.
“We carry out millions of tests in our labs every year to protect public health and the environment, and that relies on single-use plastics”
The agreement represents a major commercial milestone for Envetec as utilities, healthcare organisations and life sciences companies worldwide come under growing pressure to reduce waste, improve traceability and cut carbon emissions.
They have the bottle for it
Elise Cartmel, general manager for Net Zero at Scottish Water
Scottish Water carries out around three million analytical tests annually across laboratories in Edinburgh, Inverness and locations throughout Scotland. The testing programme, which supports water quality monitoring and public health protection, relies heavily on single-use plastics such as sample bottles, petri dishes and pipette tips.
Since January, approximately 72,000 sample bottles have already been processed through Envetec’s system.
The technology uses simultaneous chemical disinfection and shredding to treat laboratory plastic waste on site, producing material suitable for recycling while reducing dependence on landfill, incineration and energy-intensive treatment processes.
For Scottish Water, the move creates a more efficient approach to handling one of its largest laboratory waste streams. For Envetec, it provides a high-profile endorsement from a major national utility.
“We carry out millions of tests in our labs every year to protect public health and the environment, and that relies on single-use plastics,” said Elise Cartmel, general manager for Net Zero at Scottish Water.
“We’re really pleased to be working with Envetec to lead the way with this innovative technology. It allows us to handle these waste streams in a more environmentally friendly way, reducing what goes to landfill or incineration while maintaining the high standards our customers expect.”
Scottish Water already recycled non-contaminated sample bottles. However, microbiological plastics traditionally required autoclaving before being sent for disposal because they could not enter recycling streams.
The utility is now extending Envetec’s technology to those materials, creating opportunities to recover plastics that were previously treated as waste.
Efficient recycling
Karen Rae, Senior Project Manager for Scottish Water’s Scientific Services, said the system is already delivering operational benefits.
“Managing laboratory plastics after use has always been a challenge. We already had recycling routes for sample bottles, but Generations gives us a more efficient way to deal with high volumes of plastic and, importantly, enables us to recycle waste streams that could not previously be recycled because of potential microbiological contamination,” Rae said.
“It also frees up valuable staff time by reducing manual handling, uses less water than traditional treatment routes, and helps cut carbon by reducing reliance on autoclaving and the number of plastic recycling skip uplifts needed. The system gives us clearer data on what we are processing and where those materials go next, helping strengthen reporting, improve traceability, and make more informed decisions over time.”
Alongside waste treatment, the platform captures data on waste volumes, material types, laboratory sources, downstream recycling pathways, polymer composition and indicative emissions savings. Scottish Water plans to use the information to strengthen reporting and explore broader deployment across additional laboratory waste streams.
For Envetec, the deployment highlights the growing international demand for technologies that can help organisations meet sustainability targets while maintaining strict operational and regulatory standards.
“Scottish Water is demonstrating how essential laboratory plastics can be managed differently after use,” said Malcolm Bell, CEO of Envetec.
“These materials are often necessary for safety, accuracy, and compliance, yet their end-of-life can be transformed. Generations is helping laboratories treat selected waste streams on site, capture useful operational data, and support meaningful material recovery.”
Founded in Birdhill, Co Tipperary, Envetec has built its reputation by developing alternatives to conventional waste treatment methods for healthcare and life sciences organisations. The Scottish Water deployment marks an important reference project for the Irish company and showcases how its technology can be applied beyond healthcare settings to large-scale utility operations.
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