ALBA Group Asia, a leading provider of waste management and recycling solutions for communities and industry of German origin, and VietCycle, a leading waste collection and plastic recycling company in Vietnam, announced the signing of a cooperation agreement to jointly develop one of the largest food-grade PET/HDPE plastic recycling plants in Vietnam.

At the signing ceremony, held in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, Mr. Hoang Van Thuc, General Director of the Department of Pollution Control, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Deputy German Ambassador, Dr. Simon Kreye, welcomed the agreement as a significant contribution to Vietnam’s efforts to fight environmental pollution.

According to the World Bank, Vietnam is one of the major polluters of the world’s oceans. Annually, approximately 3 million tonnes of plastic waste are discharged on land in Vietnam, and an estimated 0.28 to 0.73 million tonnes of plastic waste are released into the ocean.

Across Vietnam, local governments struggle to collect, transport, treat, and dispose of their growing waste streams. This situation is expected to worsen with rapid urbanization coupled with increasing economic and population growth.

ALBA Group Asia and VietCycle to jointly develop one of the largest food-grade PET/HDPE recycling plants in Vietnam.

ALBA Group Asia and VietCycle have joined in partnership to meet this challenge. They plan to develop a facility which will have an estimated CAPEX of up to US$ 50 Million and a capacity of up to 48,000 tonnes/year; the first phase of operations is expected to start in 2024/25.

The project will use advanced technology to produce food-grade PET/HDPE resin to meet international standards set by EU and adopted by many multinational corporations.

Dr. Axel Schweitzer, Chairman and Shareholder of ALBA Group Asia, commented, “Our vision is a world without waste. At the same time, with our holistic approach and using digitalization, our goal is to help sustainably improve the living and working conditions of collectors. With this project and the collaboration with our partners from VietCycle, we make a huge step in this direction.”

The partnership between ALBA and VietCycle will enable the expansion of VietCycle’s network. Thereby, ALBA and VietCycle will jointly make efforts to promote gender equality and social inclusion in the collection system in particular, and in the plastic recycling industry in general. This is also one of the main goals that the partnership is aiming to achieve.

“The cooperation with ALBA helps us realize our dream of recovering plastic waste on the basis of advanced technology, contributing to sustainability and humanity,” stated Hoang Duc Vuong, Chairman of VietCycle Joint Stock Company.

Besides the business partnership, its economic effects and the substantial contribution to Vietnam’s effort to combat climate change, the expansion will allow both ALBA and VietCycle to reach out to more disadvantaged collectors and improve their lives by providing them with training and social insurance benefits. For this purpose, ALBA BERLIN Asia Academy, already operating in ten countries, will integrate training programs into cooperation activities between the two sides.