Indorama Ventures has announced that its recycling facility in Brazil has completed its expansion, a move expected to raise its yearly production capacity from 9,000 tons to 25,000 tons of post-consumer recycled PET.
Supported by a ‘Blue Loan’ from World Bank member the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the expanded facility – located in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais – is hoped to contribute towards Indorama Ventures’ goal of becoming a sustainable global company in line with its Vision 2030 ambition; these efforts include $1.5 billion in spending to increase its recycling capacity to 50 billion PET bottles a year by 2025.
IFC provided $300 million in Blue Loan funding in November 2020, which was set to increase the Indorama Ventures’ recycling capacity and divert plastic waste away from landfills and oceans in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, India, and Brazil. Blue Loan funds are certified and tracked for projects that aim to sustainably utilise ocean resources for the benefit of the ocean ecosystem, human livelihoods and jobs, and economic growth.
Between 2018 and 2022, Indorama Ventures secured a total of US$2.4 billion in long-term sustainable financing from a range of financial institutions, which it plans to use in projects pursuing sustainability. It has also invested US$20 million to optimise the processes in its Brazil facility and acquire new equipment, including washing machines to remove labels, grind bottles in water, and reportedly reduce water consumption by 70%.
“It is extremely gratifying to leverage the IFC’s generous funding to invest in important projects that build on Indorama Ventures’ industry leadership in sustainability,” said DK Agarwal, deputy group CEO of Indorama Ventures. “We are grateful to IFC for this blue loan reinforcing Brazil’s importance as a leader in sustainability, and which also recognize the excellence and potential of our recycling operations.”
Carlos Leiria Pinto, IFC Country manager in Brazil, added: “This is IFC’s first blue loan focused exclusively on combating marine plastic pollution. Working together with a global leader in this industry demonstrates the mutual commitment towards sustainability.”
ALPLA has founded its own recycling plant in Ballito, South Africa, with an intended output of 35,000 tonnes of rPET flakes and pellets a year; it has also worked with Ecohelp and United Polymer Trading to commence operations at a new PET recycling plant in Târgu Mureș, Romania.
Other projects from Indorama Ventures include its plans to build a manufacturing plant utilising Carbios’ PET bio-recycling technology and its acquisition of an 85% equity stake in PET plastic recycler UCY Polymers CZ in an effort to recycle over 1.6 billion PET beverage bottles per year by 2025.
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