ALBA will contribute its technological know-how and operational excellence as well as global sales and marketing capabilities for the high-quality output expected. The new facility will house state-of-the-art equipment capable of processing PET beverage bottles and transforming them into high-quality rPET flakes and food-grade rPET pellets. The advanced technology comes from leading equipment manufacturers in Asia and Europe and can produce approximately 36,000 tons of recycled PET annually, including food-grade recycled PET.
These high-quality materials can be utilized for the manufacturing of new PET bottles ready for consumption again, both within Indonesia and for export purposes, as food-grade rPET are highly demanded from various consumer industries in the scope of increased sustainability efforts to advance the circular economy. The facility will be built in an area of 2.6ha within the Kendal Industrial Park, Central Java.
Dr. Axel Schweitzer, Owner and Chairman of ALBA Group Asia, led the ground-breaking ceremony together with, Dian Kurniawati, ALBA joint venture partner and Founder of PT Tridi Oasis Group, and Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vice-President for Private Sector Operations and Public–Private Partnerships, Ashok Lavasa.
Dr. Schweitzer commented “At ALBA Group Asia, we are following our vision of a World Without Waste. Therefore, we decided to enlarge our operations into Indonesia and establish this recycling facility in Kendal, Central Java. Each year, approximately 8 to 12 million tons of plastic ends up in the ocean. Indonesia is one of the top contributors to marine plastic pollution. For this strategic project, ALBA is very proud of using our expertise from our German based sister company Interzero and similar projects in Asia, to develop the concept, build and operate the facility to assist Indonesia in reducing the impact of its plastic waste. We aim at increasing the collection rates in Indonesia by creating markets. We believe in the positive social impact of this project as we work closely with local collectors and will create a significant number of new jobs in the region.”
Dian Kurniawati also commented “All of us know that Indonesia’s plastic pollution problem is everyone’s problem. Therefore we need everyone’s solution including the government, civil society, global companies, as well as financial institutions, through multi-stakeholders’ collaboration. We are excited to jointly working together with our joint venture partner, ALBA, who strongly demonstrates gender lensed investing. This investment not only aims to solve the waste problem and create economic value, but also empowers local SMEs and women entrepreneurs like me to upscale our organizational capabilities. We believe that this partnership is a significant example on how social and environmental issues can be resolved through strategic collaboration of multi-stakeholders.”