More PET bottles are getting a second life in S-E Asia as capacity, demand grow

BEVERAGE giant Coca-Cola has spent more than five years looking into building capacity for the collection and recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles in South-east Asia. But, even now, the region continues to be a pet peeve for the group.

Unlike other plastics, PET is not single-use, and can be remade into new bottles. In this part of the world, however, a lot of PET waste is picked up and collected by people who are not officially in charge of sorting out such bottles.

The word for the resultant state of affairs is “chaotic”, Kirsten van Zandwijk, the director of sustainability and partnerships for Asean and South Pacific at The Coca-Cola Company, told The Business Times.