The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has provided Averda with a $30 million loan to support sustainable waste management in the Middle East and Africa.
Averda, which is a waste management company operating in India, the Middle East and Africa, explained that the loan is supporting the construction of a new plastics recycling plant in South Africa.
The company said that the “ground-breaking agreement will help deliver climate-changing benefits through private-sector-led integrated waste management services. Part of this loan is already in use and is supporting several of Averda’s existing sustainable waste management projects in South Africa, Oman, and Morocco.”
Gauteng
“Locally most of the investment has been put into use in the construction of a new plastics plant in Rosslyn, Gauteng, South Africa, creating 50 new jobs,” said Chris O’Neill, Director at Averda South Africa. He added that the loan will help them significantly accelerate other sustainable projects in allowing Averda to reduce the waste sent to landfills while increasing the volumes composted, recycled, and transformed into energy, progressing us towards a more circular economy.
Recycled pellets will be produced through the investment
“Through the new plant which will be operating by the end of the year, we aim to change this by processing up to 12,000 tons per year of High-Density Poly (HDPE) and Low-Density Polyethylene Ethylene (LDPE) by converting them back to reusable A-grade plastic pellets. With volume production commencing in Q1 2023,” explained Mr O’Neill
Pellets
These pellets are to be used by Averda’s customers to remould or extrude new products. The plastic waste is collected from the waste sectors, and this may include Averda’s landfill sites. This ‘recycling and re-using’ minimises the impact on carbon emissions as the Averda process essentially shreds the plastic waste and thereafter extensively washes it before extruding the plastic, the company noted.
Mr O’Neill added that Averda will also operate a Material Recovery Facility where source-separated recyclables will be further segregated, and from where some of the input plastics will derive, which will be used for the plastic plant.
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