In Thailand, PTT Global Chemical Plc (PTTGC), a petrochemical flagship of PTT Group, and Austria-based packaging specialist Alpla have successfully opened Thailand’s first and Southeast Asia’s largest recycling plant able to produce high-quality and food-grade recycled plastic materials.
Once it is started up, the new ENVICCO recycling plant, built in a record 18 months will have an annual production capacity of 45,000 tonnes of recycled PET and HDPE: 30,000 tonnes of recycled, food-grade PET and 15,000 tonnes of recycled HDPE. The new unit is located in an economic zone on the coast of the southeastern province of Rayong. The 30,000-square-metre plant, built on a plot of land spanning 90,000 square metres, is equipped with the latest recycling technology and production lines to manufacture high-quality FDA-approved plastic recyclates.
The joint venture is an important part of Alpla’s recycling activities in Asia, said Alpla Chairman Günther Lehner during the official opening on 13 September. The ENVICOO facility will supply Alpla’s production facilities in Asia with recycled material
The opening was also attended, among others, by Kongkrapan Intarajang (Chief Executive Officer and President, GC), Dietmar Marin (Alpla Managing Director Recycling) and Bernd Wachter (ALPLA Corporate Director Circular Economy & Recycling Asia).
Demand for recycled, sustainable packaging materials is rising sharply in Southeast Asia, and high-quality plastics have a key role to play in the region's circular economy. This new plant will contribute towards better meeting local demand for high-quality recycled materials It will also support sustainable development in the region, moving it towards resource-conserving business and lifestyles.
According to Joint venture partner and majority shareholder PTT Global Chemical, the project will create jobs within the community ,while simultaneously aligning with the Thai government’s Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model. The ENVICCO team will comprise approximately 180 employees at the start of production.
“Used plastics within the Kingdom of Thailand will make up 100% of the raw materials processed by ENVICCO’s cutting-edge production technologies to transform used plastics into valuable products,' said GC CEO Kongkrapan Intarajang. “The ENVICCO production plant is part of our long-term circular economy strategy to fully realise GC’s value chain.”
The site still has space for future capacity expansions. 'We have long-term plans to promote the bottle-to-bottle cycle not only here in Thailand, but across Asia and other regions around the world. Carbon emissions and waste can be reduced through optimised resource consumption,” emphasised Dietmar Marin, Alpla Managing Director Recycling.
The Thai project has been implemented within the scope of Alpla’s striving, announced in early 2021, to invest an average of 50 million euros a year until 2025 in the ongoing expansion of its recycling activities. In particular, it plans to globalise its activities in the area of high-quality recyclates to close the materials cycle in as many regions as possible. In total, the annual production capacity of Alpla's recycling companies and cooperations around the world amounts to approximately 203,000 tonnes of rPET (recycled PET) and 74,000 tonnes of rHDPE (recycled HDPE).