Do a spin in the centre of the Recapture Plastics factory and the entire production cycle is laid bare.

To my right, bales of broken garden chairs and smashed children’s toys are stacked up to the ceiling. To the left, labelled dustbins collect separated crumbs of polymers ready for distribution.

In between the two extremes, the plastics are carried through an array of complex machines and conveyors able to differentiate materials by colour and type.

Bosses Roger Evans and Neale Buttery have invested £1 million in setting up the facility on the Hoo Peninsula.

The outlay is more than double what they had planned, following a setback.

They had been due to share a site with Aylesford Metal Company in New Hythe, setting up using their own money and a £230,000 interest-free loan from the Escalate scheme run by Kent County Council.

The plan was scuppered when the metal dealer fell into administration in February.

It triggered a search for new premises that brought them to Kingsnorth Industrial Estate, where they had to install electrics and machinery on a far larger site in double-quick time.

“I spoke to Chris Broom at Locate in Kent who knew the site owners and the agent handling the sale, as well as a lot of other useful contacts,” said Mr Buttery.

“He put us in touch with all the right people and his help proved invaluable in pushing the deal through."

“We wanted a site that was 10,000sq ft but ended up with 25,000sq ft,” said Mr Evans. “We needed two small offices and have got 3,000sq ft of office space.

“The good news is this will be a larger business, be more sustainable and create more jobs.”

Production is due to get under way in earnest this year after 12 months of huge expenditure and groundwork for the business partners.

The pair believe turn­over can reach £3.4 million annually and aim to produce 16,000 tons of recycled plastic a year, primarily from waste electrical and electronic equipment and old garden furniture.

It will sell the separated granules to compounders, who refine the plastic into material suitable to be remade into new products.

“We are not aiming at someone who wants to make something,” said Mr Evans. “Our market is getting the compounders the best-quality feed stock because there’s a shortage.”

Messrs Evans and Buttery met three years ago working for PlasRecycle, setting up the UK’s first carrier bag recycling facility in Woolwich in 2013. Both have worked in plastic recycling for about a decade.

“We both had a desire to do something ourselves,” said Mr Buttery, who lives in Longfield with his wife and two children.

“You get to know someone’s character when you are working on a start-up budget of £20 million [at PlasRecycle]. We have confidence in each other’s ability and have different skill sets.”

Mr Evans, who hails from Worcestershire, said: “My skill set is more technology, innovation and fundraising, whereas Neale’s is more managerial and operational running these types of business. It’s a good fit.”

Four million tons of waste plastic are generated in the UK annually, while 9.5 million small electrical appliances will be thown away in the EU this year.

Yet Roger Evans and Neale Buttery are confident their lucrative business will not be squeezed by the entry of a big player to the market.

“It is not a huge attraction for big companies to have a business which turns over £3 million a year,” said Mr Buttery.

Mr Evans added: “The big recycling players have got deep pockets, but they want to stick to their core business.

“If there is suddenly a big demand for sorted plastics, we are the ideal company to acquire.

"We have set up from day one to make ourselves attractive to inquisitive companies.”