UK waste management company Biffa has reopened its Masons materials recovery facility (MRF) near Ipswich, Suffolk, following a £12 million redevelopment designed to accommodate new household recycling streams and expand glass recovery.

Once fully operational, the upgraded facility is expected to process around 65,000 tonnes of recyclables annually.

The project introduces a new glass processing plant supplied by Impact Air Systems, alongside upgrades to the facility’s optical sorting and film extraction systems. A new twin-ram baler has also been installed to prepare recovered materials for onward transport.

⚙️ The optical sorting equipment, supplied by TOMRA, is being adapted to the revised material streams through updated near-infrared (NIR) sorting technology. The facility’s mechanical sorting infrastructure was previously upgraded in 2019, when STADLER supplied equipment including ballistic separators, screening drums, magnets and eddy-current separators, working alongside TOMRA’s AUTOSORT optical sorting systems.

The latest redevelopment responds to changes in household collection schemes introduced across Suffolk in June 2026. Paper and cardboard are now collected separately, while glass bottles and jars join plastics and cans in the other recycling stream. Masons can therefore process glass from kerbside collections for the first time.

The investment also includes enhanced fire protection, with Helios fire-suppression cannons and sprinkler systems, as well as additional storage and yard capacity.

The £12 million project was funded equally by Biffa and the UK’s packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) scheme, with the public funding allocated through Suffolk County Council and Braintree District Council.

The upgrade illustrates how changes in household collection systems are driving engineering modifications to existing recycling plants, from new material separation stages to the reconfiguration of established sorting equipment.