Plastics & Rubber World - May/June 2019 - 17

IRELAND

piling raw materials. The intention is to
let distributors assume responsibility for
maintaining supply. Such is the size of
their products, the company uses some
considerable amount of HDPE, purchased
through the UK and Europe. "I might consider looking at US suppliers, if absolutely
necessary," says Concannon.

says Kiernan. "Look at speaker grilles, they
have very intricate designs. Not everyone
is able to produce those, get the required
quality and repeatability."
Conﬁdence is proving to be a critical
commodity when it comes to deciding
a given course of action when it comes
to Brexit planning. JFC Group, located in
Tuam, County Galway, is a plastics manufacturer which produces for various sectors, including civil engineering and farm
management. With operations extending
into the UK and Europe, managing director John Concannon already has his Brexit
strategy sorted out.
"I'll just move production from here
to the UK, or from the UK back to here,"
he says, with a mind to avoiding any related tariﬀs. He continues: "I'll ﬂex as required, but I don't think [Brexit] is going to
be good for anyone. I was recently at an
automotive meeting in Ireland and some
suppliers were wondering what's going to
happen."
He says that Honda deciding to move
out of the UK was a turning point which
should not be ignored. "If you look at the
state of UK plc [after the Brexit referendum] and then consider trying to tempt
industry to invest in the country, is anyone going to bother? They wouldn't have
a notion."
Unlike others, JFC has not been stock-

THE RECYCLING CONUNDRUM

In the early 1990s, JFC Group had two recycling operations in the UK, the ﬁrst in
St Helens, Lancashire, and the second in
Runcorn, Cheshire. Much of the recycled
material was used in the company's pipe
products, but while those still use recyclate to the tune of 20,000 tonnes per
year, the JFC recycling plants are no more.
Concannon believes that the recycling
policy in the UK was at cross purposes
and essentially caused the steep increase
in material prices. "We were getting paid
to recycle plastics, but at the same time
other guys were getting paid to ship plastic waste to places like China. It choked
every recycler in the UK.
"In the end, we were taking every HDPE
bottle we could ﬁnd out of Belgium to feed
the plants. We tendered, but it was tough.
You had to put a substantial deposit down
to guarantee you'd take the material and
then that would come from four or ﬁve
sites," he explains.

I don't think [Brexit] is
going to be good
for anyone
John Concannon, JFC Group

›› Continued on page 18

Toolmaker
of the Year
The July/August issue of PRW will
have a bound supplement covering
the polymer industry in Ireland.

OW
N
L

K
OO

L
CA

Don't miss this opportunity to make new
connections or reconnect with the Irish market!

CONTACT DARREN TINDAL TODAY!
dtindal@crain.com +44 (0)1273 251277

2018

"Faulkner Moulds
are a rare breed in
this field. Excellent
quality, on time,
every time, no
exceptions. I have
nothing but praise
for this professional
toolmaker."
Sales and Marketing Director,
leisure and automotive
manufacturer.

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Plastics & Rubber World - May/June 2019

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