Alba breaks ground on Hong Kong recycling JV

Berlin-based recycling company Alba Group has broken ground on a joint venture recycling plant for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) waste in Hong Kong.
 
The company has partnered with local waste management company Baguio Waste Management & Recycling Ltd and Hong Kong beverage company Swire Coca-Cola for the “New Life Plastics Ltd” joint venture, which is set to start operation in the second half of 2020.
 
The plant, with the annual capacity to produce more than 35 kilotonnes per annum of recyclates, will be Hong Kong’s first PET and HDPE recycling facility.
 
For Alba, however, the unit in the EcoPark Hong Kong, an industrial site for recycling and environmental technology, will be its second recycling facility in the country and will increase the company’s footprint in Asia.
 
Alba has been operating a facility for recovering electrical and electronic waste in the EcoPark since March 2018. The plant is claimed to be “the largest recycling plant for electrical and electronic waste in South-East Asia.”
 
The new plant will feature a sorting section, as well as separate production units for food-grade PET flakes and HDPE pellets.
 
As the project manager, Swire Properties Ltd, part of Swire Pacific Ltd, is responsible for the design and construction of the facility with latest technologies for wastewater management and photovoltaic systems.
 
Local partner Baguio will leverage its expertise in waste management to contribute to the collection and logistics management.
 
The Alba Group will provide its technology knowhow for sorting and processing the delivered plastics into flakes and pellets.
 
The food-grade PET flakes are subsequently reused to produce new bottles, while the HDPE pellets go into new, high-quality products both in the consumer area and in industrial applications.
 
“Our objective is, with the new plant, to be able to process a large proportion of the volume of PET drinks bottles and packaging waste from personal care products in Hong Kong within a foreseeable time,” said Ben Ng, chairman of Baguio Green Group, parent company of Baguio Waste Management & Recycling.