“We do not think plastic scrap is waste. We consider it as our resource,” explained Touchawatt Techamongkoljit, CEO of Royce Universal Co. Ltd. “Our goal is to recycle as much plastic waste as possible. In PET bottle-to-bottle recycling we saw the opportunity to reduce the amount of plastic waste and reuse it in a way that avoids downcycling. This helps the environment and enables circularity and sustainability.”
In addition to rPET sheet produced from PET bottle flakes, Royce offers certified high-quality food-grade recycled PET pellets under the brand name “PetaRoyce”. The company invested in PET bottle-to-bottle recycling technology from Starlinger in 2023. The recoSTAR PET 165 HC iV+ installed at Royce’s production site in Nakhon Pathom Province 50 kilometers from Bangkok turns washed PET flakes into food-contact rPET pellets and has a production capacity of up to 1,800 kg/h. The excellent decontamination capacity of Starlinger’s PET bottle-to-bottle recycling process has been approved by many international brand owners as well as authorities such as FDA and EFSA and guarantees sustainable and food-safe feedstock for food and beverage packaging applications. Royce uses the food-contact rPET in its own sheet production and supplies it to brand owners and beverage producers for mineral water and soft drinks in Thailand as well as in the US, Australia and Japan.
“Through our various partners in Thailand we are working on developing a truly circular economy,” said Touchawatt Techamongkoljit. In one of its current projects, Royce plans to expand its operations and recycle used PET bottles collected in the south of Thailand. The produced rPET pellets will be shipped back for producing food-contact packaging in the region. “In addition, we want to enable Extended Producer Responsibility by developing a traceability system that uses blockchain technology to prevent greenwashing. These are a few of our steps to support and drive the use of sustainable recycled materials in various applications like food and beverage packaging, cosmetic packaging, or home appliances and houseware,” Touchawatt Techamongkoljit added.
