INDIA – Varun Beverages Limited (VBL), the second-largest bottler for PepsiCo outside the United States, has partnered with Indorama Ventures and Dhunseri Ventures to set up state-of-the-art PET recycling facilities across India.
The joint venture aims to address the increasing demand for recycled PET (rPET) content in the country by constructing multiple greenfield recycling plants, with two facilities already under construction and expected to be completed by 2025.
Once fully operational, the joint venture aims to reach an annual capacity of 100 kilotons of recycled PET across all its facilities, further bolstering India’s capacity for sustainable plastic packaging.
The initiative comes in response to growing regulatory pressure, as the Indian government has mandated that by 2025-2026, 30 percent of plastic packaging must consist of recycled content, increasing to 60 percent by 2028-2029.
This demand for rPET is expected to rise sharply, with projected volumes increasing from approximately 400 kilotons in 2025-2026 to over 1 million tons by 2031.
Varun Jaipuria, Executive Vice Chairman of Varun Beverages, expressed optimism about the venture, stating, “Our collaboration with Indorama Ventures represents a strategic foray for Varun Beverages into the recycling market. We believe this joint venture will yield environmental dividends and generate substantial value for our stakeholders.
As India’s recycling landscape undergoes a paradigm shift, we take pride in spearheading this transformation alongside Indorama Ventures.”
Indorama Ventures, widely recognized as the world’s largest producer of recycled PET resins for food and beverage packaging, has been operating PET recycling facilities since 2011.
The company reached a significant milestone in 2023 by recycling over 100 billion PET bottles in its history.
Looking forward, Indorama aims to recycle 750,000 tons or 50 billion PET bottles annually by 2025.
This partnership aligns with the increasing commitments of Indian beverage companies to incorporate more sustainable packaging solutions, a trend also seen in Europe and other global markets.
The joint venture strengthens VBL’s sustainability efforts as it capitalizes on the evolving recycling landscape in India.
This announcement follows VBL’s recent exclusive agreement with PepsiCo Inc. to manufacture, distribute, and sell Simba Munchies in Zambia and Zimbabwe, further demonstrating the company’s expanding global footprint.
In the first half of 2024, VBL reported a consolidated net profit growth of 25.79 percent, reaching Rs 1,789.87 crore (US$213.8M), with a 21.15 percent increase in revenue from operations, totaling Rs 11,514.18 crore (US$1.38B).
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