Plastics in Circles - Recycle 2 Value

Investing in Impact

P4G has provided this partnership with US $500,000 in catalytic grant funding. 

This partnership will develop two proven solutions to enable more advanced plastics recycling across the waste stream, from difficult to recycle mixed plastic waste to high-value rigid plastics. First, the partnership will launch an Upp! Circular Plastic Factory, which uses a unique melting/mixing technology to process a wide range of unsorted, unwashed and unshredded mixed plastics, such as multilayer sachets or plastic with food residue, reducing the costs of sorting and washing materials. The partnership will efficiently process these waste streams into durable and recyclable construction materials in the Surabaya region. 

Second, to tackle post-consumer rigid plastic packaging waste such as bottles and jars, the partnership will study the viability of expanding Umincorp tech from the Netherlands into Indonesia. This approach offers an innovative technology that makes mechanical sorting and recycling of mixed plastic waste more efficient and can produce high-quality material that can be reused in new packaging products.  

Compared to traditional plastic sorting and recycling, the technology used in both solutions significantly lowers CO2 emissions, sorting and recycling costs and residual plastic waste in the entire plastic chain. With capacity to recycle all plastics, from difficult to recycle to mixed rigid plastics, the partnership can significantly reduce plastic going to incineration or the landfill.  

During the P4G funding period, the partnership will set up the Upp! Circular Plastics factory in Surabaya with the capacity to process 5,000 tons per year of mixed plastic waste. Additionally, it will conduct a study for set-up of the Umincorp facility in Java with a total capacity to process 25,000-30,000 tons per year of rigid plastic waste. This partnership will also help meet the Indonesian government’s commitment to achieve a 75% reduction in marine plastic and increase waste handling to 70% by 2025. 

This partnership is part of the Indonesian-Dutch Plastics in Circles consortium led by MVO Nederland, in cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Netherlands Embassy in Jakarta.