In cooperation with the Yunus Social Business Fund (Berlin; www.yunussb.com), German film producer Cofresco (Minden; www.cofresco.de), a subsidiary of the Melitta group (Minden; www.melitta.info), has established Vishuddh Recycle in Bengaluru in the southern state of Karnataka, India, for the recovery of plastics film waste.

Twenty employees are to process LDPE film waste into granulate for the group’s Swirl and Handy Bag brand bin liners, with an initial capacity of 2,000 t/y, Melitta said. Vishuddh Recycle sources the film refuse from disposal companies that support better working conditions for waste pickers and aim to improve waste management infrastructure in Bengaluru.

The Indian recycling company is a social business, meaning all profits are either invested in its own business or in the local community. The project is sponsored by Melitta’s Fair Recycled Plastic initiative, which in turn receives financial support from German investment corporation Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) as part of the federal government’s develoPPP programme.