UFlex, a pioneer in multi-layer plastic manufacturing and waste recycling, is scaling up its recycling strength to help build a circular economy, by the way of setting up two lines that will wash and recycle post-consumer waste and subsequently give a second life to plastics.

The pilot plant at its Noida facility commenced its operations and is aimed to mitigate the piling plastic dumps in Delhi–NCR by recycling collected post-consumer waste PET bottles and multi-layer plastic packaging into chips and granules, put into further use to make products with economic value. In line with its global sustainability campaign ‘Project Plastic Fix’, UFlex will steer its efforts towards keeping plastic in the economy and out of the environment, converting waste into wealth.

To recycle more than 3000 MT of plastic waste a month

On the launch of this facility, Jeevaraj Pillai, joint president – packaging and new product development, UFlex said, “The problem of discarded plastic is escalating and alarming. India alone generates 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day. Need of the hour is to enable a system where plastic is collected, properly cleaned and then recycled.

“Our Noida plant is one such initiative that we have made in this direction to solve the plastic waste crisis around us and Delhi-NCR is set to benefit from it. With recycling plants as this coming up at various locations, UFlex will have a capacity to recycle more than 3000 MT of plastic waste a month and we aim to build the largest infrastructure for recycling of plastic waste.”

The pilot plant in Noida has a capacity to treat 10,000 tonnes of plastic waste a year with an additional capacity for PET waste at 9,600 tonnes a year. Uflex is also running a similar pilot recycling plant in Bengaluru that sorts out 200 tonnes of municipal waste every day. In addition, the company has plans to set up a recycling plant in Varanasi on a 10 acre land that will sort out 600 metric tonnes of garbage per day.

Believes in co-existence of sustainability and business

According to Uflex, of the 8.3 billion metric tonnes of plastic that has been produced in the world, a recent study states that a whopping 6.3 billion metric tonnes has become plastic waste either lying in the landfill or swimming in the ocean. A meager 9% of this plastic waste gets recycled. Reports indicate that by 2050, there will be 12 billion metric tonnes of plastic on this planet, if there isn’t an eco-system built to recycle plastic waste.

Throwing light on the company’s focus towards environment protection, Dinesh Jain, president – legal and corporate affairs at UFlex said, “We believe in co-existence of sustainability and business, and it is incumbent on us to take care of our environment with ethical and safe practices such that the utility of our product persists without any harm to the environment. We have ensured that these two lines follow a zero-emission practice to convert MLP and PET bottles waste into recoverable.”

Washing-recycling lines at Noida plant

PET Bottle Line (PCR Line) – The Post Consumer Recyclate (PCR line) at UFlex is set up with the objective to recycle PET bottles, used and discarded by consumers, to form chips. The PET bottles will go through the process of crushing and washing and will finally get dried up before it reaches the extruder to form chips. Since the PET bottles are transparent and virgin in nature, chips derived as a result of recycling process will further be up-cycled to manufacture a range of PCR grade BOPET film from UFlex called Asclepius. The Asclepius film can be used and reused for multiple applications like packaging and label material, creating a loop economy.

The PCR line will recycle used PET bottles collected by NGOs and waste collection agencies from Delhi NCR area. The line has the capacity to recycle up to 600 tonnes of PET Bottle waste a month.

The MLP Film Line (PCPR Line) – The Post-Consumer Plastic Recyclate (PCPR) line at UFlex Noida plant will wash and recycle post-consumer MLP waste and convert them into granules. The PCPR line will also pass the waste through the same process of crushing and washing before forming granules. The granules derived can be used to form more than 10,000 industrial and household products like flower pots, outdoor furniture, bucket, dustbins, paver tiles, road dividers etc.

The post-consumer MLP waste collected from Delhi-NCR will be sourced from NGOs, producer responsibility organizations (PRO) as well as producers & brand owners directly. The PCPR line has a capacity to wash and recycle up to 500 tonnes of MLP waste in a month.