The ALBA Group is expanding its engagement in Asia. In the presence of Wong Kam-sing, Secretary for the Environment HKSAR, it is celebrating today the official groundbreaking ceremony for the first recycling plant for the processing of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) waste in Hong Kong. The plant will be operated by the joint venture “New Life Plastics Ltd.”. Here, the ALBA Group’s partners are Swire Coca-Cola Limited and Baguio Waste Management & Recycling Limited (Baguio), a Hong Kong‘s leading recycling firm which is the subsidiary of Baguio Green Group Limited (HKEx Stock Code: 1397).
The plant is being built in the EcoPark in Hong Kong, an industrial site for recycling and environmental technology. The ALBA plant for recycling electrical and electronic waste (Hong Kong WEEE·PARK), officially taken into operation in March 2018, is also located here. The new plant will consist of three process stages: the high-tech sorting, the production of food-grade PET flakes and the manufacture of HDPE pellets. The planned annual capacity amounts to more than 35,000 tonnes, with the commencement of regular operations planned for the second half of 2020.
In the joint venture of the ALBA Group, Swire Coca-Cola and Baguio, the expertise and operational areas of the three participating companies are combined. Swire Coca-Cola, as a key player in the domestic beverages market, is in full support of delivering a working plastic collection and recovery system in Hong Kong. As the project manager, Swire Properties Limited, part of Swire Pacific Limited, is responsible for design and construction of a facility with latest technologies for wastewater management and photovoltaic systems. As the local partner of waste management and recycling, Baguio will leverage on their strong expertise in waste management in contributing to collection and logistics management. The ALBA Group provides the technology expertise for sorting and processing the delivered plastics into flakes and pellets. The food-grade PET flakes are subsequently reused to produce new bottles, while the HDPE pellets go into the classic recycling into new, high-quality products both in the consumer area and in industrial applications.
“The ALBA Group is a leader in the area of recycling technology and with the new project in Hong Kong is further expanding its position in the Asian market,” says Dr Axel Schweitzer, CEO of the ALBA Group. “After the successful opening of the largest recycling plant for electrical and electronic waste in South-East Asia last year, we are very proud now also to construct Hong Kong’s first recycling plant for PET and HDPE.”
“As an integrated environmental services provider, we believe recycling in Hong Kong is very important to the sustainable development of the city. We are pleased to be able to work together with an experienced partner like the ALBA Group, which is known for its technology expertise,” says Mr. Ben Ng, Chairman of Baguio Green Group, parent company of Baguio Waste Management & Recycling Limited. “Our objective is, with the new plant, to be able to process a large proportion of the volume of PET drinks bottles and packaging waste from personal care products in Hong Kong within a foreseeable time and thus to prevent burying in landfill sites. Additionally, we aim to leverage our extensive waste collection network to create a positive impact in shaping the recycling behaviour in Hong Kong in order to build a sustainable living environment.”
“As a leading soft drink producer in Hong Kong, we are determined to turn the tide on single-use drinks packaging and create a more sustainable approach to plastic. This joint venture takes steps to cover our responsibility in the total life cycle management of a key single-use packaging – PET, which echoes The Coca-Cola’s ‘World Without Waste’ vision,” says Mr. Pat Healy, Managing Director of Swire Coca-Cola Limited. “We are also an end-user for the recycled PET, which can go back into our supply chain, so it's a significant step towards us becoming self-sustaining in the plastic materials we use and ensuring a closed loop for plastic beverage packaging in Hong Kong as a whole.”
ALBA Group in China:
The ALBA Group has had a presence in Hong Kong since the early 1990s and developed its Asian activities from there. Since 2011, the Group has become increasingly active in recycling consultancy and technological project management in China. Today, the ALBA Group is involved through long-term projects in many parts of the recycling and circular economy sector in China, providing innovative solutions adapted to the Chinese market among other things in end-of-life vehicle and WEEE recycling and in the environment-friendly treatment of municipal solid waste.
