Indorama, Coca-Cola ink deal to build recycling plant

INDORAMA VENTURES and Coca-Cola have inked a joint-venture to establish PETValue, the largest state-of-the-art, bottle-to-bottle recycling facility in the Philippines.

The facility will be established at General Trias in Cavite, located on the southern shores of Manila Bay.

The plant is expected to be operational in 2021 with the support of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc (CCBPI).

Indian businessman Aloke Lohia’s PETValue will help ensure that the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles and packaging are 100 per cent recyclable.

The 70:30 joint venture corporation is in the name of PETValue Philippines Corporation, whereby Lohia’s business will hold 70 per cent equity stake and Coca-Cola Philippines will hold the remaining 30 per cent.

The single use plastic bottles will be given new life and function as they are collected, processed, and used again and again within a circular economy.

PETValue will deploy cutting-edge technologies and industry-leading best practices to employ the safest and most advanced recycling process for plastic bottles made from PET material.

Its projected capacity, or the amount of used plastic bottles it can process, is 30,000 metric tonnes year or almost two billion pieces of plastic bottles, with an output of 16,000 metric tonnes of recycled PET resin in a time span of 12 months.

Indorama Ventures’ global footprint spans over 70 manufacturing sites in over 30 countries and employs over 24,000 people worldwide.

From its inception in 1975, Indorama Ventures has developed numerous business segments, subsequently, becoming the largest producer of polyester products and polyester feedstocks. It has also since established its global leadership in PET plastic manufacturing and recycling.

Through the latest partnership with Coca-Cola, the biggest beverage brand in the world, Indorama Ventures will be bringing their expertise as a global integrated leader in recycling to the Philippines.

Gareth McGeown, CEO of CCBPI, said: “Through this facility, we will boost the collection rates of clear plastic bottles -- collecting not just Coca-Cola bottles, but even ones from other companies. The facility will also support Filipino jobs as well as the livelihoods of people within the waste value chain.”

Indorama Ventures is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), in keeping with their thrust for growth that rests on positive environmental and social continuity.

Indorama Ventures is listed in Thailand and Sri Prakash Lohia, founder and chairman of the Indorama Corporation owns about one-third of the company.

Along with its affiliate Indorama Ventures in Thailand, Indorama Corporation, headquartered in Indonesia, operates over 70 manufacturing sites.

Indorama Corporation is the holding company of eight affiliates of Sri Prakash Lohia’s businesses spread around the world, including Indorama Synthetics, Indonesia; Indorama Eleme, Nigeria; Indorama Industries, India; and Indorama Ventures, Thailand.

Billionaire Sri Prakash Lohia ranked third in the Eastern Eye Asian Rich List last year with an estimated value of £5.8bn.

London based Sri Prakash Lohia was born and brought up in Kolkata, India. However, the Indorama story truly begins in Indonesia for it was there that he relocated with his garment-manufacturing father, Mohan Lal, in the early 1970s.