PT ALBA Tridi Plastics Recycling Indonesia has signed a $44.2m blue loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to build a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling facility.
Based in Indonesia, PT ALBA Tridi Plastics Recycling is a subsidiary of ALBA Group Asia.
As per the terms of this agreement, the company will receive $22.1m each from the ADB and the Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP) for setting up the facility in Central Java, Indonesia.
Managed by ADB, the LEAP fund was established in 2016. It is capitalised with a $1.5bn commitment by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
The LEAP fund aims to support high-quality and sustainable private sector infrastructure projects to minimise carbon emissions, enhance energy efficiency and provide access to education, healthcare and communication services for various developing member nations of ADB.
Blue loans are financing instruments to protect access to clean water, protect underwater environments, and invest in a sustainable water economy.
The ADB's vice-president for Private Sector Operations and Public-Private Partnerships Ashok Lavasa said: “Plastic pollution causes billions of dollars in irreversible harm to our marine ecosystem, and also has severe impacts on economies and public health.
“This project showcases the potential for PET recycling in Indonesia, while the certified blue loan aims to attract more investors into waste management and recycling.”
The new recycling plant will help in processing PET beverage bottles to transform them into high-quality recycled PET (rPET) flakes and food-grade rPET pellets.
These flakes and pellets can then be used for manufacturing new rPET bottles.
The facility is projected to have a capacity of recycling up to 48,000 tonnes (t) of PET bottles every year, preventing the plastic waste from going into the ocean, landfills or being burned out in the open.
With this recycling capacity, the facility is expected to produce around 36,000t of quality rPET.
ALBA Group Asia chair Axel Schweitzer said: “Our project will increase food-grade rPET production capacity in Indonesia and contribute to the creation of a circular economy for plastics.”
