Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines (CCBPI, Taguig), a bottling and distribution arm of Coca-Cola (Atlanta, Georgia / USA; www.coca-cola.com), and PET producer Indorama Ventures (IVL, Bangkok / Thailand; www.indoramaventures.com) established a joint venture to build a bottle-to-bottle recycling facility in the Philippines. Called PETValue, the PHP 1 bn (EUR 17.5m) plant will be set up in General Trias and is expected to be completed in 2021.

The JV will help ensure that used PET plastic bottles are collected, processed and repeatedly reused within a circular economy. PETValue will deploy the latest technologies and practices for the recycling process. Its projected capacity is 30,000 t/y or almost 2 bn plastic bottles, with an output of 16,000 t/y of recycled PET resin.

The facility will collect clear plastic bottles not only from Coca-Cola, but other companies as well. Gareth McGeown, CEO of CCBPI, said the JV will help the US beverage giant fulfil its “World Without Waste” goal in the Philippines. The company’s environmental programme was launched in 2018 with the aim to make its packaging 100% recyclable by 2025 and use 50% recycled material in its bottles and cans by 2030. Another goal of the programme is to collect and recycle one bottle or can from any beverage producer for each one it sells by 2030 – see Plasteurope.com of 19.03.2018.