Indorama Ventures (IVL) has signed an agreement to acquire Wellman International’s recycling business in Europe from Aurelius AG, to pursue customers’ sustainability needs and meet the demands of consumers for more recycling of post-consumer products.
Indorama’s board approved a management proposal to acquire from Aurelius AG the businesses of Wellman International and its related company MJR Recycling BV as this will be strategically in line with the company’s objectives of long-term sustainability. It will also lower the company’s impact on the environment globally. Indorama, the world’s leading vertically integrated Polyester Value Chain producer, expects to complete the acquisition this year, subject to necessary regulatory approvals. The acquisition will provide access to proven recycling technology and the potential for technology transfer to the company’s Asian assets with a reduced learning curve. “This is a very exciting project for us,” said Group CEO Aloke Lohia.
“The target acquisition has the know-how to blend recycled PET [rPET] and industrial waste and will potentially contribute to make Indorama Ventures a ‘zero waste’ company with a low carbon footprint able to serve both the beverage and fibre segments of our customer base,” Lohia said. Wellman International is Europe’s largest recycler of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles as well as a leading European producer of polyester staple-fibre products and rPET. It enjoys a unique position in that Europe’s market environment highly values recycled and green products. It is a pioneer in recycling and a reputed bottle-to-bottle and bottle-to-fibre recycler with its own unique technology, capable of producing very high quality materials, such as for the hygiene sector.
Wellman International has three production facilities in Europe with over 153,000 tons of output each year: a polyester fibre plant based in Mullagh, the Republic of Ireland, and recycling plants at Spijk in the Netherlands and Verdun in France. The plant in Ireland is capable of converting waste polyester into 100 per cent recycled fibre. Post Recycled Bottles (PCB) are flaked and processed with other waste material to produce bottles and fibres that can be used in a variety of premium applications. “The project will act as a springboard to launch IVL into rPET following our ongoing construction of recycling plants in Decatur, USA and Rayong, Thailand,” Lohia said.
“As this is the largest recycling capacity in the whole of Europe, we will have both economies of scale and lower production costs to serve our customers in both the bottle and fibre segments. We will be able to meet our customer expectations to assist them achieve their sustainability goals effectively throughout the continent.With a comprehensive European network for bottle sourcing and good supply-chain efficiencies, we feel that it will contribute as an attractive platform for strong future growth in the sustainable recycling business with the potential to expand this business further around the world,” Lohia said.
Source: The Nation
