December 14, 2023: Gravita India has started commercial production of recycled polypropylene granules in Tanzania, the company announced on December 7.

PP has a wide range of uses and is one of the most common plastics used in the manufacturing of lead battery cases and the recycling of the material is commonplace.

Gravita said the Tanzania plastics recycling plant, operated by a subsidiary, has an annual production capacity of around 1,800 million tonnes.

The group said it had invested Rs2.25 crore ($280,000) in the procurement and commissioning of the facility, which will source scrap plastic from across the country — then supply its recycled products into manufacturing sectors in Europe and Asia.

Gravita has similar facilities in Ghana, Senegal, Mozambique and India.

Group CEO Yogesh Malhotra said in November 2022 that diversification would lead to at least 25% of its business by 2025-26 coming from recycling commodities other than lead — such as aluminium and plastic — and in future, lithium, copper and paper.