Loop + Ester Industries: PET recycling plant planned in India

Canadian company Loop Industries is set to build a PET recycling plant in India in collaboration with film manufacturer Ester Industries.

According to both companies, the joint venture Ester Loop Infinite Technologies (ELITe), which was founded for this project, has completed the acquisition of a 37-hectare site near Surat in the state of Gujarat. The initial plan is to build a plant with a capacity to recycle 70,000 tonnes of PET waste and polyester fibres.

The plant will use the ‘Infinite’ PET recycling process developed by Loop. The front-end engineering design (FEED) for the recycling plant has already been prepared by India's Tata Consulting Engineers, and the necessary investment is estimated at around USD 175 million. The plant is scheduled to go into operation in early 2027. In the medium term, ELITe plans to build another PET recycling complex with an annual capacity of up to 100,000 tonnes at the site in western India.

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Commenting on the acquisition of the building plot in Gujarat, Ester CEO Arvind Singhania said: "This is a significant step towards the implementation of the project and our commitment to promoting circular economy solutions in India. Gujarat, the centre of India's polyester textile industry, offers the ideal ecosystem for our first plant using Loop's Infinite technology. This project will not only reduce CO2 emissions and dependence on new raw materials, but also create a sustainable value chain for the textile and packaging sectors."

Loop Industries is based in Terrebonne, near Montréal in the Canadian province of Québec, and is listed on the New York NASDAQ. The Infinite technology developed by the company enables the recovery of the monomers dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and ethylene glycol (MEG) for the production of new PET plastics and polyester fibres through the depolymerisation of plastic waste.

Loop operates a demonstration plant for the Infinite process in Terrebonne and is developing a recycling complex in South Korea in collaboration with the chemical company SKGC. However, joint plans by Loop and SKCG with the French waste management company Suez to build an Infinite plant in Lorraine were shelved last year.

More information: www.loopindustries.com, www.esterindustries.com

Loop Industries + Ester Industries, India

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