Million-Dollar Investment Partnership, Braskem and Valoren Launch Brazil’s First Mechanical Recycling Project

Braskem Recycling Solution With Valoren Promises To Add Value To Plastic Waste That Is Diverted And Pollutes The Environment

As the first company to produce biopolymers on an industrial scale and market leader, Braskem launched its first mechanical recycling project in Brazil, in partnership with Valoren, a company specialized in developing technologies and managing waste that should be turned into recycled products. The inauguration event took place at Braskem’s own factory, located in Indaiatuba, São Paulo state.

Braskem – which recently closed a partnership for the construction of a biomass plant – and Valoren made an investment of approximately 67 million reais in the unit, which should transform, per year, 250 million post-consumer packaging made from polyethylene and polypropylene – substances that are part of the composition of cleaning, personal hygiene, cosmetics, and food materials, for example – into 14 thousand tons of recycled resin with a very high-quality process. In turn, these resins will begin to be reused as raw material for the recycling industry, an area that has been encouraged by other companies.

Testimony From Executives of Braskem and Valoren

According to the website PetroNotícias, the Vice President of Olefins and Polyolefins at Braskem in South America, Edison Terra, states that Braskem aims to improve people’s lives by developing sustainable solutions in the chemical and plastic industry, which should be intensified with the partnership with Valoren. “The inauguration of this plant represents part of the materialization of this purpose. We are building a solution that will add value to plastic waste, which often ends up being diverted from the collection system into the environment, oceans, and rivers,” said Terra. He also stated that the raw material that goes through the recycling process will be used in the development of sustainable products, which will stimulate the economy.

Ferdinando Demarchi Neto, an executive at Valoren, reiterates that the partnership with Braskem in developing mechanical recycling corresponds to a significant benefit for the municipality in São Paulo, considering that the technology of the companies associated with the production processes will develop sustainable solutions for plastic, in addition to providing job vacancies in the recycling sector. “Currently, we have over 150 employees hired, many of whom came from cooperatives and selective street collections. Our goal is to expand this growth and benefit not only the environment but also the local population with the generation of new jobs,” said the Valoren executive.

In this regard, in February of this year, Braskem announced a financing of R$ 130 million for three projects aimed at the circular economy, including the mechanical recycling unit. Additionally, beyond this venture, in the short and medium term, there will be the construction of a Circular Economy Packaging Development Center and the opening of a pioneering advanced recycling plant in Brazil, which will also operate with technology created by Valoren.

Also Watch the Promotional Video Produced by Braskem To Promote Its Partnership and New Recycling Project:

About Braskem

Founded in August 2002 and headquartered in São Paulo, since 2020, it has been led by Roberto Simões. With more than 7,600 employees and an estimated revenue exceeding 14 billion dollars, this is a global petrochemical company aimed at creating sustainable solutions in chemistry and plastics.

About Valoren

Valoren Recuperadora is a company that believes there is value in any waste. Thus, the company works with waste management aimed at maximizing recovery, reuse, and valorization. To this end, it relies on the development of its own techniques and technologies.