New Karawang facility to recycle 2 billion PET plastic bottles annually
Thailand-based Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), producer of recycled PET for beverage bottles, announced it will build a facility in Karawang, West Java, to recycle almost 2 billion plastic bottles a year in support of the government’s plan to reduce ocean debris.
The facility, which is planned to launch in 2023, will recycle 1.92 billion PET bottles annually and create 217 new jobs. It is part of IVL’s global commitment to divert post-consumer PET bottles away from waste and back into the circular economy, supporting the Government of Indonesia’s National Plan of Action on Marine Plastic Debris. The recycling plant will provide the washed and shredded post-consumer bottles as PET flake feedstock to produce recycled resin that is suitable for food contact use.
Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of Investment of the Republic of Indonesia, said, “I appreciate the initiative of Indorama Ventures to help the government to end and mitigate the plastic waste crisis through their investment in this greenfield recycling facility. It is time for the government, and all of us, to take action and address the waste problem. We invite more investors who are committed to social impacts for the community and environment. Together we must safeguard the richness of our marine biodiversity for our children and grandchildren.”
As the largest archipelagic state in the world, Indonesia is endowed with great biodiversity, rich natural resources as well as strategic and economic value that have all created blessings and challenges for Indonesians. Against this backdrop, Indonesia will by the end 2025 reduce 70% of its plastic debris from 2017.
Indorama Ventures has six Indonesian sites across Purwakarta, Cilegon, Tangerang and Karawang. With this new recycling facility, IVL brings a circular business model to support our Indonesian operations. In 2019 Indorama Ventures announced it aims to recycle a minimum of 750,000 metric tons of PET globally by 2025, investing up to US$1.5 billion to achieve this goal. IVL’s new plant in Karawang, along with its other recycling facilities in Southeast Asia, will work with existing PET flake production facilities in Indonesia.
