Indorama Ventures invests US$20M in Brazilian PET recycling expansion

11 Aug 2023 --- Indorama Ventures, one of the world’s largest recycled PET (rPET) resin producers, has expanded its recycling facility in Brazil. The company invested US$20 million to optimize the facility’s processes and acquire new equipment such as washing machines to help remove labels, grind bottles in water and reduce water consumption by 70%.

The move was supported by a “Blue Loan” from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank. 

The recycling facility, located in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, is increasing its production capacity from 9,000 metric tons to 25,000 metric tons of PET, made annually from PCR PET material. 

DK Agarwal, deputy group CEO at Indorama Ventures, says: “It is gratifying to leverage the IFC’s generous funding to invest in important projects that build on Indorama Ventures’ industry leadership in sustainability. We are grateful to IFC for this Blue Loan reinforcing Brazil’s importance as a leader in sustainability, which also recognizes the excellence and potential of our recycling operations.”

Recovering waste with funds
The project is part of Indorama Ventures’ Vision 2030 ambition to continue building an environmentally sustainable global company, spending US$1.5 billion to increase its recycling capacity to 50 billion PET bottles annually by 2025. 

PET is a unique and widely used plastic for water and soda bottles and the most recycled plastic in the world. 

In November 2020, the IFC provided US$300 million in Blue Loan funding to Indorama Ventures to increase recycling capacity and divert plastic waste from landfills and oceans in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, India and Brazil.

Blue Loan funds are certified and tracked for projects that support the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health. Indorama has secured US$2.4 billion in long-term sustainable financing from various financial institutions between 2018-2022 to support sustainability projects.

Carlos Leiria Pinto, IFC’s country manager in Brazil, concludes: “This is IFC’s first Blue Loan focused exclusively on combating marine plastic pollution. Working with a global leader in this industry demonstrates the mutual commitment toward sustainability.”

Edited by Natalie Schwertheim