About 60 000 tons a year of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle waste will be taken out of circulation with the construction of a new recycling plant in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Engineering News reports that the EUR60 million PET recycling plant will be built in Ballito by Austrian plastics manufacturer and recycler ALPLA.

The 90 000 m² plant is expected to produce 35 000 tons a year of recycled PET pellets and flakes, most of which will be used to manufacture new plastic bottles on site.

The company says the bottle-to-bottle plant will offer 100 direct jobs, but indirect employment throughout the value chain could reach 10 000.

Local producer responsibility organisation Petco, which helped to locate the site, welcomed the investment. ‘We need additional offtake for the growing number of post-consumer bottles that we are unlocking nationally, and this also complements our transformation strategy,’ said Petco CEO Cheri Scholtz.

20 June 2023
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