NEWS


Veolia to close Rostock PET recycling plant


Having previously an- nounced it would be scaling back production, Veolia PET Germany now plans to shutter its PET bottle recycling facility in Rostock, Germany, on 31 December 2023. It said the closure is due to the “lack of long- term security” for the production site, which has been operating for more than 20 years. Around 50 employees will be affected. The 36,000 tpa facility


operates using URRC’s UnPet process, which was co-developed by Coca-Cola and produces rPET suitable for food contact applica- tions. However, the company says it has not succeeded in securing long-term sales with the beverage industry and grocery retailers. It blamed the lack of willing- ness of all market partici- pants to participate in a long-term perspective for the purchase of rPET on economic terms. The BVSE industry body, whose members are


Biffa


acquires Esterpet


PET recycling companies are coming under market pressure, says BVSE in Germany


German plastics mechanical recyclers, said Veolia’s closure plan reflects the difficult market situation in Europe where rPET is being substituted by lower-priced virgin PET. This fall in demand for rPET in packag- ing means recycling companies are currently coming under massive pressure, said Dirk Textor, Chairman of BVSE. The market behaviour is


short-sighted and highly problematic, said BVSE. It should not be assumed that


an rPET plant that has shut down can easily be started again as they must be operated continuously in order to be able to produce the required quantities of material of the right quality. Veolia PET Germany’s


other production sites in Frauenfeld, Switzerland; Fetsund, Norway; Norrköping, Sweden; and the Hamburg-based central marketing unit are not affected by the closure. � www.veolia.de � www.bvse.de


UK waste management company Biffa has acquired Esterpet, a PET recycler based near Leeds, UK. Esterpet converts 25,000 tpa of plastic flakes generated from recycled bottles into high-purity plastic pellets which are made into new containers for beverages, cosmetics and household goods. The company’s customers include some of the largest brands in Europe. The acquisition builds


on Biffa’s existing capabili- ties in closed-loop food grade recycling, and complements its plants in Seaham, Redcar and Washington, where it already converts more than 165,000 tpa. Along- side the main acquisition, Biffa has made a minority investment in Esterpet’s sister company Esterform, which manufactures PET preforms at facilities in Leeds in the UK. � www.biffa.co.uk


Eastman to get feedstock for French project


Citeo, the leading EPR group in France, has announced that Eastman, in a commercial partnership with integrat- ed waste management company Paprec, has been selected to receive a significant amount of feedstock for its planned molecular recycling facility in Port Jerome sur Seine, Normandy. The agreement provides Eastman


with a strong foundation for securing French-sourced waste for the project, which is set to become the world’s


4


largest material-to-material molecular recycling plant with an investment of $1bn. “We began the year with roughly


half of our feedstock needs secured for phase 1 of the project, and with these important additional agreements in place we are moving closer to the 80% we expect to secure by year-end,” said Brad Lich, Executive Vice President and CCO. He said this progress is a testament to the complementary


PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | May/June 2023


nature of Eastman’s molecular recy- cling technology to the current mechanical technologies in the market, and to the growing need to enable circularity for more waste streams to be transformed into high-quality output. The facility, which will utilise


Eastman’s proven Polyester Renewal Technology (PRT), will be built in two phases with phase 1 expected to be mechanically complete in 2026. � www.eastman.com


www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK


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