PET recycling in Latin America: for Amut good things come in threes

Amut has recently completed the commissioning of the second of three turnkey plants for the SMI Group in Bogotá, Colombia. SMI, active in the food and beverage industry, now benefits from a plant with a production capacity of 3,000 kg per hour of recycled material from post-consumer PET bottles. The facility includes an efficient pre-selection and pre-washing section for the bottle stream, featuring the patented wet Delabeller system.

Thanks to Amut’s innovative technologies - such as the patented Friction Washer, Turbo Washer, and newly designed Turbo Dryer - the plant achieves exceptional efficiency in water, energy, and chemical usage. Freshwater consumption is reduced to just 1.1 litres per kilogramme of rPET flakes produced. This makes the facility eco-sustainable while ensuring high productivity and quality flakes suitable for bottle-to-bottle processes.

In December 2023, SMI launched the first of the three PET recycling plants in Lima, Peru, supplied by Amut as part of the project. With a production capacity of 6,000 kg per hour, it is currently the largest operational facility in the South American country. Meanwhile, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Amut is constructing the third line, also with a capacity of up to 3,000 kg per hour.