The plastics recycling company CarbonLite, a Los Angeles-based producer of bottle-grade material, has held an official grand opening for what the company says is the largest bottle-to-bottle plastics recycling facility in Riverside, Calif.

California Gov. Edmund (Jerry) Brown Jr. attended the grand opening.

Inside CarbonLite’s new 220,000 square-foot bottle-to-bottle recycling plant.When fully operational, the 220,000-square-foot plant is expected to process more than 2 billion PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles per year from California's curbside and redemption programs, according to CarbonLite

"Companies like CarbonLite are revolutionizing the recycling industry and dramatically reducing the huge amount of plastic dumped in California landfills every year," said Brown.

"CarbonLIite is using high-tech innovations to bring used plastic back to food grade quality," said Jared Blumenfeld, regional administrator for Environmental Protection Agency Pacific Southwest. "By recycling 2 billion PET bottles every year, this cutting-edge facility is helping America save 48 million gallons of gas. This is a model of resource recovery and economic development,” he added.

Leon Farahnik, chairman of CarbonLite and HPC Industries, its parent company, says the project has been greatly helped by partnerships with Pepsi and Nestle, which will consume the pellets produced at the new facility.

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has signed a letter of non objection to the pellets for use in food-contact applications.

"We're committed to being the leading bottle-to-bottle recycler, preserving resources and reducing the carbon footprint from PET bottle production," says Farahnik, "We're honored to have the support of Gov. Brown, U.S. EPA Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld and the many others who came out to our grand opening and experienced our state-of-the-art recycling facility. Our customers are allowing us to truly make a large impact by creating a sustainable infrastructure for beverage companies."