With an investment of 60 million in South Africa, a new production plant will start for rPET for food use

How is happening in various parts of the world, in Europe, South-East Asia, North and South America, the traditional recycling chain is considerably shrinking.

If until a few years ago plastic waste was managed by the recycler who collected it, transformed it and sold the recycled plastic polymers to end users, such as manufacturers of bottles and plastic packaging.

Now, more and more often, the final manufacturer of home care or house cleaning or beverage products, deals in first person of the whole supply chain.

The strategic need to be able to control the recycled raw material and the recycling chain by the producers and distributors of these items for the consumer, first triggered the purchase of small and medium-sized producers of recycled polymers and their supply chain of plastic waste, to then organize themselves autonomously to create waste supply lines and production of recycled granules and flakes from scratch.

One of the schemes is packaging and recycling specialist ALPLA, which is building a state-of-the-art recycling plant in the South African coastal city of Ballito, north of Durban.

The plant, with a production of 35,000 tons of recycled PET material, marks the entry of the company into the African recycling market.

Construction will begin in the summer of 2023 and is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2024. In total, ALPLA is investing approximately 60 million euros to strengthen the regional circular economy.

After opening its new headquarters in Lanseria in autumn 2022, near Johannesburg, the internationally active company now announces the construction of its first recycling plant in South Africa.

By autumn 2024, a modern used PET bottle recycling plant will be built on a 90,000 square meter site in Ballito near Durban, in the province of KwaZulu Natal.

It is the first investment in a food grade PET recycling plant in the second largest province of South Africa by population and an investment key to the region.

In the future, almost 60,000 tons of PET bottles will be recycled per year and, from them, 35,000 tons of flakes will be produced and mechanically recycled rPET pellets, most of which ALPLA will process to produce its own bottles.

'Our goal is a bottle to bottle cycle, this way, as a recycler and manufacturer, we can guarantee the supply of safe, convenient and sustainable packaging around the world and, at the same time, promote awareness of recyclable material", emphasizes Philipp Lehner, CEO of ALPLA.

The new industrial plan will increase the annual production capacity of all recycling company ALPLA at about 238,000 tons for rPET (recycled PET) and 74,000 tons for rHDPE (recycled HDPE).

Partners for the circular economy

The market for high-quality products made from recycled materials is growing not only in Europe, Asia, North and South America, but also in the south of the African continent.

In South Africa, growing demand is accompanied by the progressive expansion of collection systems nationwide.

"Together with the PETCO Producer Responsibility Organization, which has identified KwaZulu Natal as a business development opportunity, ALPLA has been supporting for years the development of the collection chain, raising awareness of society and reducing the use of landfills", explains Mike Resnicek, Finance and Commercial Director Africa, Middle East and Turkey for ALPLA, and Director and Board Member of PETCO.

Furthermore, for the implementation of the recycling plan, ALPLA has jointly decided to face the investment with a local partner.

"Local know-how combined with a solid understanding of the cultural and economic landscape is crucial for such a large-scale project," adds Resnicek.

PETCO CEO Cheri Scholtz says: 'This investment in an additional bottle-to-bottle facility in South Africa, and especially with a local partner, is good news.

By carrying out our first recycling projects in Africa, we are equipping ourselves for the future, helping to increase the collection rate and reduce waste, by recycling raw materials precious.

At the same time, we are creating many new jobs locally,' says Dietmar Marin, managing director of the recycling division of ALPLA.

The new Ballito factory will employ around 100 people in the future. The development of the regional collection system will also have an impact on regional value creation and is expected to generate more than 10,000 indirect jobs in the coming years.”

Growing market in southern Africa

ALPLA is represented in a total of seven locations in South Africa, Mauritius and Angola in the sub-Saharan region of continent, where it employs over 1,000 people.

In mid-October 2022, the region's new manufacturing site was inaugurated in Lanseria, near Johannesburg. Previously, a second PET preform production plant was opened in the Angolan capital Luanda.

ALPLA is planning further investments in southern Africa in the coming years. “Regional roots and global know-how create the foundation for strong partnerships and trust. With high-quality packaging solutions made from recycled materials, we can support our customers in achieving their sustainability goals and offer everything from a single source in the future,” says Javier Delgado, regional managing director of ALPLA Africa, Middle East and Turkey.

Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.

Source Alpla