With a “strategic long-term investment” of an undisclosed size, plastics distributor Emeraude International (Paris / France; www.emeraude-international.com) says it has acquired a stake in Middle Eastern PET recycler DGrade (Dubai / UAE; www.dgrade.com).

The French company could even take a majority holding in DGrade, according to one interpretation of a statement from Emeraude CEO Umar Rafique: “With the partnership, DGrade’s global range will increase, and, at the same time, it will facilitate Emeraude’s entry into the market for recycled plastics.” The company declined further comment following a query from Plasteurope.com.

The transaction provides Emeraude access to PET recycling operations DGrade has been building up since 2010 under the management of founder and CEO Kris Barber. With its Simply Bottles system, the Emirati company collects PET bottles from schools, hotel chains, corporate businesses and events in the UAE, Africa and India, and processes them further into self-developed “Greenspun” polyester fibres for textiles.

The new partnership aims above all to advance DGrade’s Q4 2021 entry into supplying ready-to-process PET flakes to bottle-to-bottle manufacturers and PET recyclate to packaging producers.

Emeraude distributes standard thermoplastics with a focus on polyolefins. Since the founding of its Sustainable Development division in 2017, the distributor has been more involved in the recyclate segment. That same year, the company, which has a workforce of 150, made its first acquisition when it bought Resin Technology (Groton, Minnesota / USA; www.resintechnologyllc.com), which involved the marketing of around 100,000 t/y of PVC in the US.