Of the 8.3bn metric tonnes of plastic that has been produced in the world, a recent study states that a whopping 6.3bn has become plastic waste, either lying in the landfill or swimming in the ocean. A meagre 9% of this plastic waste gets recycled. Reports indicate that, by 2050, there will be 12bn metric tonnes of plastic on this planet, if there isn’t an eco-system built to recycle plastic waste.
UFlex, a pioneer in multilayer plastic manufacturing and waste recycling, is scaling up its recycling strength to help build a circular economy, by the way of setting up two lines that will wash and recycle post-consumer waste and subsequently give a second life to plastics. This pilot plant in its Noida facility commenced its operations and is aimed to mitigate the piling plastic dumps in Delhi, NCR, by recycling collected post-consumer waste PET bottles and multi-layer plastic packaging into chips and granules, put into further use to make products with economic value. In line with its global sustainability campaign ‘Project Plastic Fix’, UFlex will steer its efforts towards keeping plastic in the economy and out of the environment, converting waste into wealth.
On the launch of this facility, Mr Jeevaraj Pillai, jt president of Packaging & New Product Development at UFlex, said: “The problem of discarded plastic is escalating and alarming. India alone generates 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day. Need of the hour is to enable a system where plastic is collected, properly cleaned and then recycled.
“Our Noida plant is one such initiative that we have made in this direction to solve the plastic waste crisis around us and Delhi-NCR is set to benefit from it. With recycling plants as this coming up at various locations, UFlex will have a capacity to recycle more than 3,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste a month and we aim to build the largest infrastructure for recycling of plastic waste.”
Throwing light on the company’s focus towards environment protection, Mr Dinesh Jain, president of Legal and Corporate Affairs at UFlex said: “We believe in co-existence of sustainability and business, and it is incumbent on us to take care of our environment with ethical and safe practices such that the utility of our product persists without any harm to the environment. We have ensured that these two lines follow a zero-emission practice to convert MLP and PET bottles waste into recoverable.”
Below are more details on washing-recycling lines at the Noida plant:
- PET Bottle Line (PCR Line) – The Post Consumer Recyclate (PCR line) at UFlex is set up with the objective to recycle PET bottles, used and discarded by consumers, to form chips. The PET bottles will go through the process of crushing and washing and will finally get dried up before it reaches the extruder to form chips. Since the PET bottles are transparent and virgin in nature, chips derived as a result of recycling process will further be upcycled to manufacture a range of PCR grade BOPET film from UFlex called Asclepius. The Asclepius film can be used and reused for multiple applications like packaging and label material, creating a loop economy. The PCR line will also recycle used PET bottles collected by NGOs and Waste Collection Agencies from Delhi NCR area. The line has the capacity to recycle upto 600 tonnes of PET Bottle waste a month.
- The MLP Film Line (PCPR Line) – The Post-Consumer Plastic Recyclate (PCPR) line at UFlex’s Noida plant will wash and recycle post-consumer MLP waste and convert them into granules. The PCPR line will also pass the waste through the same process of crushing and washing before forming granules. The granules derived can be used to form more than 10,000 industrial and household products like flower pots, outdoor furniture, bucket, dustbins, paver tiles, road dividers etc.
The post-consumer MLP waste collected from Delhi, NCR, will be sourced from NGOs, producer responsibility organisations (PRO) as well as producers & brand owners directly. The PCPR line has a capacity to wash and recycle up to 500 tonnes of MLP waste in a month.