German recycling services and raw materials provider Alba (Berlin; www.alba.info) has signed a cooperation agreement with Japanese waste management company Seiu Japan (Tokyo; www.seiujapan.com) to build and operate a PET recycling plant in Tokyo. The facility, which will produce 35,000 t/y of PET flakes and pellets, will be Alba’s first in Japan. Start-up is scheduled for 2020.

Alba CEO Axel Schweitzer said, “As an advanced industrialised country with an active environmental policy, Japan is a very interesting market for us.” The company added that the joint venture will also examine further investment possibilities in the Japanese recycling industry.

The agreement was signed during a visit by Berlin’s mayor Michael Müller to Japan. Müller said he was very pleased that Berlin’s environmental technology and expertise was in demand in Asia.

Seiu Japan was established in 2005 and started its business from plastic bottle recycling. It is also part of the “Ecocap” programme (Yokohama / Japan; www.ecocap.or.jp), which collects plastic bottle caps. The company says because of the decline in market prices due to the Chinese economy and the tightening of regulations, it is strengthening business by making connections with other countries.