Pran-RFL manufacturing products from used plastic
Pran-RFL Group is making hundreds of products, recycling discarded plastic items. These plastic products manufactured in Habiganj Industrial Park of the company are also being exported abroad. The company is saving a large sum of money besides protecting the environment through modern manufacturing processes.
A meeting was held at the Habiganj Industrial Park with the media regarding this innovation of Pran-RFL group. At the meeting, the top officials of the company highlighted various present and future aspects of plastic recycling in the country.
Pran-RFL group built the Habiganj Industrial Park in 2012 at Olipur in Shaistaganj upazila near the Dhaka-Sylhet highway. The company went into production in 2014.
Pran-RFL group started recycling plastic materials besides manufacturing other products. They have 10 collecting booths in different parts of the country. Pran-RFL group collects these used plastic materials at a rate of Tk 60 to 70 per kilogram based on the quality.
Kamruzzaman Kamal, director of Pran-RFL (marketing) told Prothom Alo, “About 500,000 people are directly or indirectly involved in the plastic recycling sector. Pran-RFL group has invested around Tk 3.2 billion in this sector.
According to Pran-RFL, they manufacture about 300,000 tonnes of plastic materials each year. Apart from that, around 30,000 tonnes of used plastic materials are collected from which they produce 27,000 tonnes of raw material. The value of this raw material would be Tk 4 billion if it was imported. Recycling activities save a huge amount of foreign exchange every year. In addition, it is reducing environmental pollution.
Kamruzzaman Kamal said some 10 per cent of the total used plastic comes from recycling currently. The company’s plan is to collect 20 per cent of the total used plastic from recycling.
The collected 'used plastics' are crushed in the factories of Pran-RFl’s own collection booths and recycled at three factories in the country including Pran-RFL’s Habiganj Industrial Park. The company manufactures about 100 types of products including household products, gardening, poultry items, pipes and fittings, garment accessories and plastic bags.
Kamrul Hasan, chief operating officer of the recycling department of Pran-RFL group, said, “Plastic is one of the most important and widely used materials in today's world, which has become an essential part of our daily lives. In addition, PET bottles and PET-type packaging are widely used in Bangladesh. With this in mind, Pran-RFL is planning to set up a PET bottle recycling plant in two years, through which fabric can be produced.”
He further said on average, plastic usage per head every year is 60 kilograms. This industry will flourish further if people’s awareness on the use of plastic and recycling plastic products is increased. Besides, it will reduce the harmful effects on the environment, he added.