PET recycling to get a significant boost with €35 million investment in Latvia

A joint project representing an investment of over €35 million in the development and construction of a new PET recycling plant in Olaine, Latvia has been announced. According to the project's backers, the facilities will rank amongst the largest and most modern in Europe. Spanning an outdoor area of around 40,000 m2, and a total interior area covering 30,000 square meters including production facilities, office space and various shared facilities, this will also be one of the largest industrial buildings in Latvia.A significant part of the investment comes from PET Baltija, one of the largest PET recyclers in northern Europe and part of Eco Baltia, the largest waste management and recycling group in the Baltics, which is contributing over €10 million to the project. PET Baltija, which this year celebrated its 20th anniversary, is already a prominent player in the recycling industry on the European stage, said Salvis Lapiņš, Chairman of the Board at PET Baltija, with a recycled product portfolio that includes high-quality PET flakes and granules, including food grade, of which nearly 100% is exported."The new factory will ultimately allow us to more than triple our food-grade rPET pellets production capability while also improving efficiency, productivity and set new standards in PET recycling technologies," he said.As part of the project, PET Baltija's existing Latvian factory in Jelgava will be relocated to the new production facility in Olaine in several stages, gradually shifting all PET Baltija production from Jelgava to the new factory in Olaine by the end of the first quarter of 2024.In line with the rapid development strategy pursued by the Eco Baltia group in the Baltics and beyond, the present project is being delivered by Eco Baltia, which is backed by the INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund, in collaboration with PICHE, a leading industrial park developer in Latvia.This development of a new PET Baltija factory is one of the most ambitious business expansion projects by Eco Baltia in recent years, noted Māris Simanovičs, chairman of the board at Eco Baltia, who added that the ‘main objective is to increase the food-grade rPET pellets production capacity and provide the necessary conditions for the company's further development, as well as to strengthen our market share within the European market’.

Construction of the new plant is ongoing, with the completion of the initial phase - installation of the first production equipment located within one of the completed production areas- having been celebrated in early May.Austria-based Starlinger is supplying the recycling equipment for the project. Only 2 other European plants currently run Starlinger equipment featuring this level of sophistication - and globally, only 10. In technological terms, the new PET Baltija factory will be one of the most advanced in Europe and the world."It will progress PET Baltija further forward on the map, as not only a regional but also a European level, for the most modern and efficient recyclers contributing to world's sustainability drive,"Deimantė Korsakaitė, executive partner at INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund and chair of the supervisory board at PET Baltija, pointed out.

The new PET Baltija's recycling factory and industrial park is being developed by the leading industrial building developer in Latvia, PICHE. According to PICHE CEO Pēteris Senkāns, the PET recycling plant is one of the company's largest and most complex projects of the year.

In line with the sustainability strategies of Eco Baltia and PET Baltija, which aim to reduce resource consumption and promote a circular economy, the building will comply with the BREEM sustainable construction standard. It will be fully powered by renewable energy. Among others, the factory will install wastewater treatment equipment to reduce the amount of chemical substances needed for the wastewater treatment process. In addition, the factory will have a top-level air recuperation system, which will reuse excess heat energy generated during the PET melting for heating of the building. In terms of ESG, significant attention is being paid to employee well-being and working conditions, in order to provide the highest of work safety standards, ergonomic and comfortable workspaces, as well as shared and recreational spaces.

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