Indorama expansions: Indian subsidiary starts up PET plant; Indorama Ventures/Carbios to build EUR230 mn PET biorecycling plant in France

Bombay-listed Indo Rama Synthetics (India) Ltd, which is 32%-owned by Thailand’s integrated chemical producer Indorama Ventures, has started up commercial operations at its 230,000 tonnes/year polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in the western Maharashtra state in India.

The PET plant located at Butibori in the Nagpur district is operated by Indorama Yarns Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Indo Rama Synthetics. The latter is one of the largest polyester manufacturers in India and has an integrated production facility at Butibori.

It operates a 263,550 tonnes/year polyester staple fibre (PFS) plant, a 259,000 tonnes/year polyester filament yarn (PFY) line, a 138,946 tonnes/year drawn texturised yarn (DTY) unit and an 87,500 tonnes/year polyester chips line at the site, according to the company’s website.

Meanwhile in other news, Indorama Ventures has tied up with French biotech company Carbios to form a joint venture for the construction of what it says is “the world’s first PET biorecycling plant” in France.

Based on and subject to the comprehensive terms set out in the MOU, Indorama Ventures plans to mobilise about EUR110 million for the jv in equity and non-convertible loan financing, pending final engineering documentation and final economic feasibility studies. Both parties have acknowledged their mutual support for the implementation of the project and their intent to finalise contract documentation before end 2023.

Subject to the successful performance of this first plant in France, Indorama Ventures confirms its intention to potentially expand the technology to other PET sites for future developments.

Under the agreement signed, Carbios, which filed for plant permitting in December 2022, should acquire 13 ha land from Indorama Ventures’ existing PET plant at Longlaville and expects to be granted permits by Q3 2023, allowing start of construction by end of 2023 and targeted commissioning in 2025. The land surface offers the possibility to double capacity. Pursuant to this MOU, Indorama Ventures shall ensure 100% of output repolymerisation and both partners shall collaborate to secure feedstock supply.

The total capital investment for the new plant is re-estimated to be around EUR230 million, taking into account recent impact from inflation. Project costs shall be financed by the sums mobilised by Indorama Ventures, the French State and Grand-Est Region subsidies available for the project, and by equity capitalisation of the joint venture by Carbios. Part of Carbios’ equity injection into the joint venture shall be financed by a portion of Carbios’ current cash position (i.e. EUR86 million as of 30 April 2023). Carbios is actively examining the best options to finance its remaining equity injection into the joint venture and will choose the most appropriate solution and timeline based on market conditions.

The project is part of Indorama Ventures’ Vision 2030 ambition to build on its leadership as a global sustainable chemical company. The company’s ESG commitments include spending US$1.5 billion to increase its recycling capacity to 50 billion PET bottles per year by 2025 and 100 billion bottles per year by 2030. To meet these goals, Indorama Ventures, the world’s largest producer of recycled PET resin used in beverage bottles, is investing in new recycling technologies, including advanced recycling, in addition to expanding its global footprint of mechanical recycling sites, including two in France.

Carbios has developed a disruptive enzymatic depolymerisation technology that enables efficient and solvent-free recycling of PET plastic and textile waste into virgin-like products with an aim to achieve true circularity. Carbios has ambitious plans to become a leading technology provider in advanced recycling of PET by 2035. After successful ongoing operations in its demonstration plant in Clermont-Ferrand in France, Carbios has been collaborating with Indorama Ventures for over a year to assess the commercial and technical feasibility of the technology. The world’s first industrial-scale enzymatic PET recycling plant at Longlaville will have a capacity to process about 50,000 tonnes/year of post-consumer PET waste, including waste that is not recyclable mechanically, equivalent to 2 billion PET coloured bottles or 2.5 billion PET trays.

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