Indorama Ventures adds PET recycling capacity in Texas

Indorama Ventures Ltd. (IVL), Bangkok, has completed its acquisition of CarbonLite Holdings’ facility in Texas as part of the company’s commitment to increasing its PET recycling capacity. IVL bid nearly $64 million for the plant in an auction of the bankrupt company's assets. 

The Dallas site has been named Indorama Ventures Sustainable Recycling (IVSR) and is one of the largest producers of food-grade recycled polyethylene terephthalate, or rPET, pellets in the U.S., with a combined capacity of 92,000 tons annually. The facility will recycle more than 3 billion PET beverage bottles annually and will support more than 130 jobs directly, the company says. With this purchase, IVL says it has the capacity to recycle 10 billion beverage bottles per year in the U.S. Globally, the company is aiming to recycle 50 billion bottles (750,000 metric tons) annually by 2025 and says it will invest up to $1.5 billion to meet this goal.

IVL entered the U.S. PET market in 2003. In 2019, the company expanded into PET recycling in the U.S., acquiring recycling facilities from Custom Polymers in Athens, Alabama, and from Green Fiber International in Fontana, California.

Yashovardhan Lohia, chief sustainability officer at Indorama Ventures, tells Recycling Today that IVL wants to quickly grow its recycling capacity by acquiring large recycling sites. He says such plants are “more efficient and more economically viable” and an easier route to reach its targets than establishing new sites and securing new sources of feedstock. Additionally, with mergers and acquisitions, IVL acquires skilled employees. “Without them, the plants won’t run.”

Lohia adds that the company will make some engineering adjustments at the Dallas site to improve productivity and increase yield, saying the site has been “well-run.”

He says, “Plastic waste has no place in our environment. By recycling 10 billion beverage bottles in the U.S, we are diverting waste away from the environment and back into the economy.

“Consumers want sustainable packaging, and global brands are using more and more recycled content in their bottles,” Lohia continues. “This recycling facility supports customer needs and consumer wants. We are delivering the infrastructure America needs to close the loop, enhancing our approach to sustainability with the Deja brand platform to build a circular economy for PET plastic beverage bottles.”

D K Agarwal, CEO of Combined PET, IOD and Fibers Business at IVL, says, “We are excited to have completed this acquisition and welcome new employees to the Indorama Ventures family. Dallas now joins Indorama Ventures recycling sites around the globe dedicated to giving new life to postconsumer beverage bottles. We are also pleased to support more than 130 green jobs for the Dallas community.”