Technological watch

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Wednesday said it will double its PET recycling capacity by setting up a recycled polyester staple fiber (PSF) manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh. As part of this, plastic recycling and waste management company Srichakra Ecotex India Pvt Ltd will build and operate exclusively for RIL the new recycled PSF - Recron GreenGold and PET flakes wash-line in Andhra Pradesh. The move is part of RIL's commitment to lead the industry on circular economy, enhance its sustainability quotient and bolster the entire polyester and polymer value chain, RIL said in a release. "RIL's initiative to more than double its recycling capacity to 5 billion post-consumer PET bottles will ensure India maintains over 90 per cent recycling rate. RIL is focusing on sustaining India's post-consumer PET recycling rate which is currently the highest in the world," the company said. The initiative will empower entrepreneurs to divert post-consumer used packaging from landfills, setup recycling facilities and create wealth from waste throughout the country, it added. RIL currently recycles PET bottles at its Barabanki, Hoshiarpur and Nagothane plants. The post-consumer PET bottles are used as a raw material for manufacturing re-cycled polyester fiber. Currently, the company converts more than 2 billion post-consumer PET bottles into fibers annually. With addition of Srichakra capacity, RIL will be instrumental in converting about 5 billion used PET bottles into value-added fibers, the release said. "The expansion of PET recycling capacity is part of Mr Mukesh Ambani's vision to transform our legacy business into sustainable, circular and net zero carbon materials business and support the entrepreneurs to take risk throughout the value chain...RIL has underwritten the entire production from Srichakra's facility to provide support for development of the business," RIL's petrochemical business COO Vipul Shah said. Srichakra Ecotex Director Srinivas Mikkilineni said the agreement with RIL provides the company an opportunity to expand its footprint into the recycled polyester staple fiber market. "The alliance will propel Srichakra's commitment to reduce plastic pollution and facilitate both organizations to advance the circular economy for plastic waste in India. RIL's industry expertise, technical knowledge, and business assurances will allow Srichakra to research, innovate and develop high-quality and sustainable products for RIL's GreenGold portfolio," Mikkilineni added.