Chemco Group commissions PET recycling facility in India

Indian plastic packaging manufacturer Chemco Group recently commissioned a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling facility in Sanand, Gujarat, India, designed to process more than 1billion postconsumer PET bottles per year.

Chemco says its facility will convert those bottles back into food-grade recycled PET (rPET) suitable for direct food and beverage packaging applications. With the commissioning, Chemco says it is strengthening India’s domestic capability to replace virgin plastic with certified recycled material while maintaining stringent quality and safety standards.

Located in the industrial hub of Sanand, Chemco says the plant has been developed to meet global regulatory expectations. The rPET produced at the facility is U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approved and fully compliant with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) requirements for food-contact applications in India. Additionally, the company says its operations adhere to all applicable Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) governing plastic recycling and rPET materials.

“This facility represents a strategic shift in how Chemco approaches sustainability,” Chemco Managing Director Vaibhav Saraogi says. “Rather than treating recycling as an external dependency, we have built a fully integrated bottle-to-bottle ecosystem that gives our customers confidence in supply security, traceability and compliance. This is not just an investment in infrastructure; it is an investment in the future of responsible packaging.”

By establishing in-house recycling capabilities, Chemco says it is enabling its brand partners in the packaging sector to meet recycled-content mandates, extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations and sustainability commitments without compromising performance or food safety.

Chemco says the new facility has been developed as a closed-loop operation, ensuring complete control across the recycling value chain. The company believes this integrated approach enhances traceability, reduces dependency on external suppliers and lowers the environmental impact associated with long logistics routes. The scale of operations also allows Chemco to deliver consistent quality and volumes required by large beverage, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and food brands, it says.

Chemco brings more than three decades of experience in PET packaging to its endeavor, supplying rigid and flexible packaging products to leading domestic and international brands.

“The addition of large-scale rPET recycling further consolidates Chemco’s position as a long-term partner for companies seeking credible, compliant and scalable sustainable packaging solutions,” the company says.

As demand for food-grade recycled materials grows across global markets, Chemco says it plans to leverage its platform to support higher recycled-content applications and future capacity expansions.