PET giant Indorama Ventures (IVL, Bangkok / Thailand; www.indoramaventures.com) is strengthening its recycling business. The Thai company is taking over French recycler Sorepla (Neufchâteau; www.sorepla.com) for an undisclosed sum. At its main plant, the French company has 58 employees and operates three lines for rPET, rHDPE as well as food-grade rPET. According to Indorama, Sorepla's combined capacity is 52,000 t/y, making it one of the leading companies in the European recycling market.

Indorama took over then leading PET recycler Wellmann in 2011 – see Plasteurope.com of 23.09.2011 – and has a processing plant in Verdun / France, in addition to plants in Ireland and the Netherlands. The Thai group is expecting benefits from synergies of management and the supply chain.

Sorepla's food-contact grades are a focus of the PET giant, which expects demand for these to grow 7% per year to 2021 in Western Europe. CEO Aloke Lohia says Indorama should play a key role in this.

Sorepla was facing problems in 2016 because of the low price of oil, which had significantly decreased earnings as well as plastics recycling yields – see Plasteurope.com of 18.04.2016. According to French sources, a medium-term recovery plan was put in place in spring 2017.