In September 2012, Teijin (Tokyo / Japan; www.teijin.co.jp/english) will set up its first PET recycling operation outside of Japan. A 49:51 joint venture with Jinggong Holding Group (Shaoxing, Zhejiang / China; www.jinggonggroup.com/en), the construction of Zhejiang Jiaren New Materials Company (Shaoxing, Zhejiang / China) is due to commence in November this year and scheduled for completion by late March 2014. Investment costs are pegged at about EUR 61m.

Once on stream, the joint venture is to recycle polyester into both resin and fibres that can later be reused for other applications. In its first year of operation, Zhejiang Jiaren New Materials is expected to turn out 20,000 t/y of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), with initial annual sales in excess of EUR 100m. Teijin said it plans to successively ramp up output by an additional 50,000 t/y in the second year of operation, yielding a total capacity of 70,000 t/y of DMT.

Strategically placed in Shaoxing, one of China’s largest fibre producing regions, the project is the first step in a cooperation agreed upon in March 2012 between Teijin and the China Chemical Fibers Association (CCFA, Beijing / China; www.ccfa.com.cn) to further develop the country’s chemical fibres business. As part of the current project, Teijin will cooperate with CCFA’s recycled fibre committee and the city of Shaoxing to set up a local supply chain and develop the necessary infrastructure to build a closed-loop recycling system in the city. The Japanese group said it hopes to expand the system to other regions in China as well.

As part of its latest 12th year plan, China has undertaken, among others, to promote the policy of “reduce, reuse, recycle” – for more information, see also Plasteurope.com of 11.06.2012.