Indorama Ventures expands PET recycling capacity in Brazil

Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand, has announced that it has completed the expansion of its recycling facility in Brazil, which was funded by a Blue Loan from World Bank member the International Finance Corp. (IFC), Washington. In November 2020, the IFC provided $300 million in Blue Loan funding to Indorama Ventures with the objective of increasing recycling capacity and diverting plastic waste from landfills and oceans in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, India and Brazil—countries that are grappling with mismanaged waste and plastic waste in the environment.

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Blue Loan funds are certified and tracked for projects that support sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs and ocean ecosystem health.

The plant in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil, is increasing its annual production capacity from 9,000 tons to 25,000 tons of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The project is part of Indorama Ventures’ Vision 2030 ambition, which include spending $1.5 billion to increase its recycling capacity to 50 billion PET bottles per year by 2025.

Indorama Ventures invested $20 million to optimize its Brazil facility’s processes and acquire new equipment, such as wash lines, to help remove labels, grind bottles in water and reduce water consumption by 70 percent, according to the company.

DK Agarwal, deputy group CEO of Indorama Ventures, says, “It is extremely gratifying to leverage the IFC’s generous funding to invest in important projects that build on Indorama Ventures’ industry leadership in sustainability. We are grateful to IFC for this Blue Loan reinforcing Brazil’s importance as a leader in sustainability and which also recognizes the excellence and potential of our recycling operations.”

Carlos Leiria Pinto, IFC country manager in Brazil, adds, “This is IFC's first Blue Loan focused exclusively on combating marine plastic pollution. Working together with a global leader in this industry demonstrates the mutual commitment towards sustainability.”

Indorama Ventures says it secured $2.4 billion in long-term sustainable financing from various financial institutions between 2018 and 2022 to support sustainability projects.