Thai company Indorama Ventures has announced plans to build a new PET recycling facility in Verdun, France.
It also said it will expand existing plants that were recently acquired at Bielsko-Biala and Leczyca in Poland.
As a result of this announcement, Indorama Ventures said it will recycle 10 billion post-consumer PET bottles across Europe each year by 2023.
Indorama Ventures is investing $1.5 billion (£1.12 billion) globally to expand its recycling facilities to meet its goal, announced in 2019, that it would aim for a minimum of producing 750,000 tonnes of rPET globally by 2025.
By 2023, 1.7 billion more bottles will be recycled as a result of the investment in France and Poland. The Verdun facility is expected to be commission in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Indorama Ventures Recycling Group head of operations – Europe, Francois Lagrue said: “Today we are announcing a new recycling facility in Verdun, France and an expansion of two recently acquired facilities in Bielsko-Biala and Leczyca, Poland. Combined with our existing European facilities, Indorama Ventures will recycle almost 10 billion post-consumer PET plastic bottles in Europe per year by 2023.
“This investment is made possible because of our customers. Their commitment to bottle-to-bottle recycling allows us to invest in the infrastructure Europe needs. These new and expanded recycling facilities will support our shared goal of closed-loop and sustainable packaging solutions.”
Members of the trade association UNESDA, which includes Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Suntory and others, have said they will use Indorama’s rPET in their bottles as part of a commitment to using a minimum of 25% rPET content in bottles by 2025.
Nicholas’ View
We welcome this investment in Europe’s circular economy. Europe’s soft drinks industry is working hard to drive sustainability throughout its value chain – from sourcing, production and distribution through to packaging, collection, recycling and reuse.
This investment is another proof point that circularity works in Europe. By delivering a closed-loop system we ensure that valuable secondary raw material is not wasted and we achieve a well-functioning EU market.
We must ensure that the right infrastructure is in place – starting with efficient collection schemes – and that all stakeholders play their part in order to achieve a circular economy for plastic bottles.
Today’s announcement is a sign that our members’ commitment is driving investment and delivering real results.
PET bottles can be collected and recycled at very high rates in a closed-loop system, which also enables the industry to boost the uptake of recycled content in bottles. It is another example demonstrating that circularity works.
