Vijay Naidu, Joint Managing Director at Extrupet, said, “Climate change is the greatest existential threat ever faced by humanity. It is the duty of every organization to change the way it does business and adopt eco-friendly practices to help reduce climate change.”
At Wadeville facility, 4 million PET bottles are recycled every day by Extrupet.
“Being one of the pioneering recycling companies in Africa, everything we do is dedicated towards building a greener tomorrow. We are always looking at new ways to reduce energy expenditure and decrease our impact on the environment, and a switch to solar energy was the next logical step towards a sustainable future,” he added.
The power generation capacity of a 1.3MWp solar plant is 2GWh. This will reduce the carbon emission of the company annually by 1,800 tonnes.
Further, Naida said, “We started the journey with Solarise Africa and NEC XON two years ago and today we are proud to be one of the first companies in the recycling industry to adopt solar power. This is a significant investment, and we challenge other industries to do the same. We look forward to a very long and fruitful relationship with Solarise Africa and NEC XON.”
Sakkie van Wijk, CCO at Solarise Africa, said, “In addition to being one of the most innovative recyclers on the African continent, Extrupet wanted to take their commitment to sustainable development even further by utilizing solar power. Not only is solar energy better for the environment, but it will also bring down electricity costs an estimated 30% from the first month and savings of around R130M to R140M over the course of the lifecycle of the solar plant.”
“At Solarise Africa, we believe in collaboration and working with our partners to help Africa thrive. In spite of the global pandemic and all the related challenges, the team managed to deliver on time. We are proud to partner with Extrupet and NEC XON to help tackle climate change,” he added.
Herman Viljoen, Head of Alternative Energy Pre-Sale at NEC XON, said, “This project was particularly interesting because of the high voltage system and transformer integration. This 1.3 MWp solar installation will produce an average of 2 GWh of energy every year, and not only will it provide energy at a reduced cost, but it will also ensure that Extrupet has a consistent and reliable power supply, even when the national grid is under severe strain.”
Lungani Zwane, Recycling Programme Officer at PETCO, stated, “We are excited and encouraged by the example that has been set by Extrupet to decrease their carbon footprint. We encourage our members to find ways of integrating renewable energy into our industry and wholeheartedly support any efforts that help stave off climate change.”
Cheri Scholtz, Chief Executive Officer at PETCO, said, “Not only will it help to alleviate the lost production time from load shedding, but it will also offset the use of carbon-based electricity and improve the current carbon footprint of this important Bottle-2-Bottle plant. The investment in renewable power by Extrupet deserves recognition and we wish the project every success.”
