ALPLA enters South African PET recycling market

ALPLA, an international plastics manufacturer and recycler, has cut the red tape on its new state-of-the-art recycling plant in South Africa, marking its entry into the country’s PET recycling market

The new plant is located in KwaZulu-Natal and has been completed following an investment of around US$60mn and approximately 18 months of construction.

Once all processes have been qualified and the flakes and pellets have been approved by the customer, the facility will begin production in 2025 and will help ALPLA to produce up to 35,000 tonnes of recycled PET (rPET) flakes and food-sake rPET pellets annually in the country. Located on a 90,000 sq m site, the plant will increase the supply of rPET in the national market.

According to Dietmar Marin, managing director of ALPLA recycling, country’s beverage industry will benefit from this by receiving high-quality material and be able to meet the legal requirements. Currently, South Africa’s EPR regulation requires PET drinks bottles to contain 10% recycled material since 2022, and this will double to 20% by 2026.

The recycling plant is designed to increase the proportion of pellets and can accommodate a second extrusion line to promote the circular economy in South Africa. An additional 30,000 sq m of space is available at the site for further expansion. ALPLA will process the high-quality recycled material into PET preforms for the production of drinks bottles at the Lanseria plant, which opened in 2022.

Safe, affordable and sustainable packaging

The opening of the new facility was market by a ceremony with around 180 guests in attendance. This guest list included representatives from the South African Ministries of Trade, Industry and Competition and Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, as well as those from the province of KwaZulu-Natal, the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, the iLembe District Municipality, and Austria’s Ambassador Romana Königsbrun.

Together, the guests celebrated the opening of the state-of-the-art plant that will process rPET produced at the plant in Lanseria back into safe, affordable and sustainable packaging.

“South Africa is a strategically important market for us and one in which we want to continue to grow,” commented ALPLA CEO Philipp Lehner. “Together with our customers and partners, our aim is to provide safe, affordable and sustainable packaging solutions to our customers and to continue improving standards of living. With our investments in Ballito and before that in Lanseria, we have laid the foundation for a successful future.”

Sihle Ngcamu, CEO of Trade & Investment KwaZulu-Natal, added, “ALPLA’s involvement does not only accelerate the industrialisation of iLembe District Municipality, but ensures investing in projects that support UN Sustainable Development Goals, attracting other companies along the value chain and creating several thousand jobs in the collection infrastructure.”