For FDA-approved bottle-to-bottle quality recycling, Invema (San Pedro Sula / Honduras; www.invemagroup.com) has commissioned a new plant for recycling PET bottles. The plant, provided by Herbold Meckesheim (Meckesheim / Germany; www.herbold.com), will process 2,000 t per month in the first stage of construction. A second expansion stage is in preparation that will produce food-grade PET thermoformed films.

According to Herbold, the current PET bottle recycling rate in Honduras is around 84%. Despite the comparatively high recycling rate in the Central American country, additional PET bottle waste will have to be imported in order to maximise usage of the plant. About the new investment, the owner of Invema, George Gatlin, says, "Coca-Cola is enthusiastic about the regranulate quality we can produce."

In 1994, the company started to recycle aluminium cans with just three employees. The Invema Group now has 370 employees at its headquarters in Honduras and another 100 in El Salvador for the collection, receiving, sorting and processing of PET bottles. Part of the energy required for the processing plants is generated at the company's own site, using 3,640 solar panels on the factory roofs.