Plastic pollution is a huge, global problem. If you want to help reduce plastic waste and keep it out of landfill, while also reducing carbon emissions and keeping disadvantaged people in employment, then this is the project for you.

Green Tech, one of the largest PET plastic recycler in Europe, collects/recycles plastic bottles that would otherwise have gone into landfill and turns them into PET strap, flakes and rPET granules – the raw materials used to make products from packaging into new bottles , rPET strap and recycled polyester fiber into various applications in the automotive industry, hygiene and healthcare, engineering & construction, filtration, home, textile and filling.

What’s the background?

Every minute, a million plastic bottles are purchased around the world and round 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills every day. Producing 1 ton of virgin PET resin creates almost 2 tons of CO2. Recycling, on the other hand, emits only 400 kg of CO2 per ton of material.

In Romania, 60,000 tons of PET waste are collected each year, but recycling rates are low (14% compared to the European Circular Economy Package target of 75%). Without this project’s involvement, most of the plastic waste would go to landfill and both the CO2 footprint and the plastic burden would be huge.

What’s the solution?

Green Tech's main objective is to contribute to the overall increase of the recycling rate in Romania and in the EU. It started out recycling 12,000 tons a year and now has a capacity of 100,000 tons a year. By recycling instead of using virgin material, it uses less energy and is set to reduce CO2 emissions by an estimated 453,800 tCO2 over 10 years.

What are the benefits?

As well as the climate benefits, this project brings economic and social benefits too. Green Tech is the largest employer in the Romanian city of Buzau, with 1,300 employees. Many of those are from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the project has a focus on gender equality (many of the high-level managers are women).

It helps boost local development, and, by extending recycling capacities into the Eastern and Central Europe region, is helping to achieve EU recycling targets.