AVI Global Launches Recycled PET Packaging Made With Certified Ocean-Bound Plastic –

We are delighted to announce that AVI Global is now a certified ocean-bound PET sheet and thermoformed packaging provider. This accreditation comes from fulfilling requirements prescribed under the Ocean-Bound Plastic Recycling Subprogram, developed by Zero Plastic Ocean in partnership with Control Union. Through partnerships with India’s leading OBP certified waste-management networks AVI Global aims to collect, recycle and convert millions of discarded ocean-bound PET bottles back into valuable rigid packaging offerings by 2025.

Globally, about 9.5 million tonnes of plastic waste enter our oceans every year. That is the equivalent of dumping a truck full of garbage every minute. Waste PET bottles, discarded after just a single-use, are an obvious cause of the damage to our water bodies and marine life.

What is more worrisome is that marine pollution is on a steady rise, which one estimate summarizes as having more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. According to a National Productivity Council (NPC) report, India is projected to become the fifth-largest source of marine litter by 2025. The devastating impact of such plastic waste on our marine environment and, subsequently, on the human food chain is alarming and demands swift action.

By joining the movement to prevent abandoned PET bottles from making their way into our oceans, we hope to infuse the supply and uptake of recycled PET plastic that is better for our environment. AVI will encourage, guide and provide partners with recycled PET packaging options such as OBP packaging that have a bigger environmental and social impact while meeting their packaging performance and processing requirements.

“Across the globe, we are already witnessing a growing preference for PET collected from beaches and other coastal areas for applications like fresh food, beauty products, apparel, footwear and so on. These movements invite ripple sustainability benefits through diversion of waste away from landfills, oceans and waterways, contribution to the circular economy from plastic waste recovery, prevention of ecological imbalance as well as improved livelihoods of collection communities through ethical sourcing,” mentions Akhilesh Bhargava, Managing Director at AVI Global Plast.

The Ocean-Bound Plastic Program is a certification scheme developed by Zero Plastic Oceans, an NGO registered in France and founded in 2019 in partnership with Control Union, an international certification group). The Ocean Bound Plastic Recycling Subprogram covers all the steps after collection, until final product commercialization.

As part of earning the OBP Recycling Subprogram certification, AVI Global’s Daman manufacturing unit and supply chain underwent extensive audits to determine the traceability of packaging origin and chain of custody, where ocean-bound plastic was processed.

The audit process serves as an independent third-party authentication system to verify the scrap used in our recycled packaging as ocean-bound plastic  i.e. plastic within 50 km from our coastlines, destined to shore.

According to Akhilesh, waste is a subjective term. The same single-use PET bottle that has contributed to a global plastic waste pollution crisis now supports the recycling industry with volumes at scale, owing to its better end-of-life potential for recovery and reuse when compared with other polymers types. While AVI has been rescuing discarded PET bottles to make recycled PET offerings for over 8 years, we are proud to be playing a role in stopping them from entering our oceans, preventing ecological imbalances and promoting circular packaging principles more holistically.

The latest OBP accreditation signals our intent to directly tackle the marine plastics problem as part of our commitment to recycle more and minimize valuable PET waste from being landfilled, incinerated or leaked into sensitive natural eco-systems. AVI can offer recycled PET packaging, including food-grade, that incorporates varying amounts of post-consumer OBP content depending on the product application. We are ready with 30%, 80%, 90% and 100% verified recycled PET sheets, blisters, lids, trays and clamshells for a wide range of product applications.

As we celebrate a step forward in sustainability and actionable packaging, we encourage our partners to join this journey to make more mindful circular packaging choices.

Together, we can turn the tide towards ocean conservation and protection by diving deeper in the circular economy through increased use of verified ocean-bound plastic. AVI will continue to present circular rPET packaging opportunities that enable impactful pack design transitions with independent authentication and traceability.