Thailand gets first 100% recycled PET bottles

Austria’s Alpla Group and PTT Global Chemical in Thailand have launched a joint venture called Envicco to introduce food-grade recycled polyethylene (rPET) to the Thai market.

The partners report that their recycled plastic ‘InnoEco’ is being used in the production of Thailand’s first 100% rPET bottles. Pepsi and Mineré are the first two brands to embrace the recycled material.

The product is processed at state-of-the-art recycling facility in the Rayong province which opened in September 2022. Envicco has an annual production capacity of 30 000 tonnes of rPET and 15 000 tonnes of recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE). This is said to make it the largest plastic recycling hub in Asia.

Alpla adds that, prior to approval by the Thai authorities, InnoEco was also certified by the US Food and Drug Administration.