Indorama commits to PET recycling in Europe

Thailand-based Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd. (IVL) says it has completed a deal for an 85 percent equity stake in Czech Republic-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycler UCY Polymers CZ s.r.o. (UCY). The transaction, IVL says, will help boost the “plastic collection and recycling ambitions” of the Czech Republic and Europe overall.

As a result of the investment, IVL says it will recycle about 1.12 billion additional postconsumer PET bottles in the Czech Republic every year by 2025, increasing the total bottles recycled by UCY across the Czech Republic, Germany and Central Europe to 1.6 billion bottles per year. IVL says it is investing $1.5 billion globally to expand recycling facilities and sustainable production, including boosting its recycling capacity to 750,000 tons per year by 2025.

Yash Lohia, chair of the Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) Council at IVL, says, “Our partnership will strengthen the recycling ecosystem in the Czech Republic. This growth is made possible because of our customers’ commitment to bottle-to-bottle recycling, which allows us to build the recycling infrastructure Europe needs.”

D K Agarwal, CEO and chief financial officer at IVL, remarks, “IVL will use our know-how to grow capacity and recycle more and more bottles. As part of our commitment to sustainability and the circular economy, we are building the recycling infrastructure needed to divert PET waste from the environment. By recycling postconsumer PET bottles into new bottles, we give waste an economic value. This drives improvements in waste collection systems, meaning less waste and a cleaner environment.”

Maximilian Josef Söllner, CEO at UCY, adds, “We look forward to adding our robust supply of post-consumer bottles, well-established technology and proven management team to IVL. Expanding our capacity by 2025 means an extra 896 million more bottles will be recycled in our facilities compared with today.”

According to IVL’s announcement, UCY can produce 40,000 metric tons of recycled PET flake per year. The new capacity will be put to work in tandem with IVL’s existing PET flake production facilities in the region.