German company to build PET recycling facility in Georgia

Revalyu Resources GmbH, with headquarters in Kleinostheim, Germany, has announced it will invest $50 million during the initial phase of its strategic expansion to the United States with the construction of a plant in Statesboro, Georgia.

Groundbreaking at 43-acre Statesboro site will take place in the first half of 2023, while commissioning is planned for 2024, according to the company. When the first phase of construction is completed, the plant will be able to process more than 225,000 pounds per day of polyethylene terephthalate, or polyester, into PET polymers and recycled PET (rPET) flakes. A further expansion of the plant will bring its capacity to 450,000 pounds, Reyalyu says. It will employ approximately 70 people at the site.

The company says it has used a “breakthrough” chemical recycling technology known as glycolysis to recycle more than 6 billion bottles already. The recycling process, which the company describes as cost-effective, extracts impurities and delivers high-quality rPET. The process uses 91 percent less energy and 67 percent less water than conventional production methods, Revalyu says.

Revalyu has a glycolysis recycling plant in Nashik, India, where it employs more than 300 people. Used PET bottles are converted into sustainable monomers, filtered to remove impurities and repolymerized. The company says it sells rPET pellets and filament yarns to more than 60 customers in more than 15 countries. In 2022 Heraeus Group, a global Fortune 500 technology and family-owned company from Germany, acquired the major stake in the company and is supporting its expansion plans.

The company says its rPET has been shown to be equivalent to virgin PET in quality and can be used as a direct replacement. Its rPET flakes are primarily used in the textile industry for applications such as seamless knitting, weaving, denim, automotive, furniture or technical textiles.

“We thank all our US customers, partners and the Statesboro community for their support, trust and confidence in us,” Revalyu Managing Director Jan van Kisfield says. Expanding our operations to the U.S. is an important milestone for our global expansion strategy. It brings us closer to our target of recycling more than 2 million pounds of used PET bottles per day by 2026 and contributes to solving the plastic waste problem.”

Vivek Tandon, the company’s founder, describes its recycling process as “unique,” adding that it “delivers the world’s cleanest, highest quality and most sustainable polyester products to our customers.”

Tandon adds, “We continue to seek strong partners globally who wish to work with us on the global rollout of this technology.”

Benjy Thompson, CEO of the Development Authority of Bulloch County, says, "Revalyu has a respected reputation for their plastics recycling process and the positive effects it will have on the environment. We are very excited that our region will be the first U.S. site for their truly innovative technology.”

Sponsored Content

Shredding tough materials with a small footprint

Discover how SSI’s innovative M120 EX Dual-Shear® shredder is revolutionizing recycling with its unique stacked chamber design and SmartFeed® technology—delivering powerful, space-efficient, and adaptive shredding for hard-to-process materials like plastics, metals, and fishing nets. Watch the video and read the full article to see this next-generation shredder in real-world operations.

Sponsored Content

Shredding tough materials with a small footprint

Discover how SSI’s innovative M120 EX Dual-Shear® shredder is revolutionizing recycling with its unique stacked chamber design and SmartFeed® technology—delivering powerful, space-efficient, and adaptive shredding for hard-to-process materials like plastics, metals, and fishing nets. Watch the video and read the full article to see this next-generation shredder in real-world operations.

Sponsored Content

Shredding tough materials with a small footprint

Discover how SSI’s innovative M120 EX Dual-Shear® shredder is revolutionizing recycling with its unique stacked chamber design and SmartFeed® technology—delivering powerful, space-efficient, and adaptive shredding for hard-to-process materials like plastics, metals, and fishing nets. Watch the video and read the full article to see this next-generation shredder in real-world operations.

Sponsored Content

Shredding tough materials with a small footprint

Discover how SSI’s innovative M120 EX Dual-Shear® shredder is revolutionizing recycling with its unique stacked chamber design and SmartFeed® technology—delivering powerful, space-efficient, and adaptive shredding for hard-to-process materials like plastics, metals, and fishing nets. Watch the video and read the full article to see this next-generation shredder in real-world operations.

Sponsored Content

Shredding tough materials with a small footprint

Discover how SSI’s innovative M120 EX Dual-Shear® shredder is revolutionizing recycling with its unique stacked chamber design and SmartFeed® technology—delivering powerful, space-efficient, and adaptive shredding for hard-to-process materials like plastics, metals, and fishing nets. Watch the video and read the full article to see this next-generation shredder in real-world operations.

Sponsored Content

Shredding tough materials with a small footprint

Discover how SSI’s innovative M120 EX Dual-Shear® shredder is revolutionizing recycling with its unique stacked chamber design and SmartFeed® technology—delivering powerful, space-efficient, and adaptive shredding for hard-to-process materials like plastics, metals, and fishing nets. Watch the video and read the full article to see this next-generation shredder in real-world operations.

Revalyu also will expand its operations in India through its subsidiary Revalyu Recycling (India) Ltd. Construction begun this month on the 200-metric-ton-per-day plant. The new plant also will be in Nashik and is expected to be operational within 12 months, the company says.

*This article was corrected Feb. 9, 2023, to note that the company's process saves energy compared with traditional production process and not traditional recycling methods.