Feature: Chinese recycling center in Ukraine turns trash into treasure

Waste management had been a major problem for Ukraine for years before a Chinese company found a solution to it.

It recycles plastic bottles, which were thrown in the trash, into valuable fabric used in a string of industries, thus supporting the local community.

NEW LIFE FOR PLASTIC BOTTLES

"There are no more plastic bottles littered around in our community. People collect the bottles and bring them for processing in the plant. Now, the city is clean," Lyudmila, a street cleaner in the northern city of Fastiv, told Xinhua.

Located some 80 km south of the Ukrainian capital with about 50,000 residents, Fastiv became an environmentally friendly oasis free of plastic bottles after Chinese firm Eco-Vtor set up a recycling centre in its suburb several years ago.

Now, picking plastic bottles has become a job for dozens of Fastiv residents. Many people could be seen on the streets pushing their bikes and carts loaded with bags full of PET bottles.

They bring bottles recovered from local dumps and roadsides to the Eco-Vtor plant, where the plastic waste will be turned into polyester fibre.

Later, the bottles, which were used solely for food storage, will gain new life as they are turned into clothing, construction gear and many other environmentally friendly items.

"Many things, which we use in everyday life, are made of polyester fibre. For instance, it is warmth-keeping blocks, soundproofing lagging, and different kinds of clothing and garment," Vadym Budovoy, a production manager at the Eco-Vtor company, told Xinhua.

Besides, the plastic waste with a presumed decomposition period of 500 years, will be turned into anti-allergenic mattresses, pillows, blankets, and even faux fur coats, he added.

LEADER OF BOTTLE RECYCLING INDUSTRY

Eco-Vtor was established in 2013 by He Shenggen, a businessman from China's eastern Zhejiang Province.

When the Chinese entrepreneur came to Ukraine for the first time, he was surprised to see that plastic recycling business was highly undeveloped in the East European country.

"When we came here, the roadsides were strewn with bottles and no one saw any value in them. Therefore, we decided to invest in Ukraine," he told Xinhua.

The Chinese entrepreneur has invested about 10 million U.S. dollars to build a modern recycling center in Fastiv after assessing the risks and potential benefits of doing business in Ukraine.

"Ukraine is a country along the Belt and Road, which has a very advantageous geographical position. It borders Europe and is a hub connecting Europe and Asia. Besides, Ukraine has an excellent labor force, low production costs and well-trained professionals," he said.

Thanks to his insistence, hard work and good business skills, he managed to grow his plant into a leader of the PET recycling industry in Ukraine, accounting for 70 percent of the market.

Now, he is a well-known businessman in Ukraine, enjoying respect from both ordinary residents and top-ranking officials.

His company processes about 2,000 tons of plastic bottles per month, producing 1,800 tons of polyester fibre, which is exported primarily to such European countries as Italy, Germany, Turkey, Poland, Belarus and Belgium.

BENEFITS TO LOCAL COMMUNITY

In addition to its positive impact on the environment, Eco-Vtor brings tangible benefits to the local community, especially to the vulnerable social groups.

The Chinese company directly employs 280 Fastiv residents and creates another 10,000 indirect jobs for waste collectors in central, northern, eastern and western Ukraine.

"Now the managers of the dumps in many cities and towns know about us, and more and more people are cooperating with us," Han Jianlong, the head of Eco-Vtor's procurement department, told Xinhua.

People collect plastic bottles from trash containers and streets and send them directly to the plant or collection points. They earn 0.3 dollars on average for collecting one kilo of the waste, which is equivalent to the cost of a loaf of bread in Ukraine.

Besides creating jobs, the Chinese company actively participates in humanitarian projects in Fastiv. Recently, it provided a financial grant for a local school for its renovation and a batch of food supplies for a local veterans' organization.

Mykhailo Netyazhuk, the mayor of Fastiv, said that Eco-Vtor has contributed a lot to the development of the local community.

"When the Chinese company decided to establish the production center in our city, many Fastiv residents and I personally doubted that it would benefit us. But now almost everyone is happy, because this plant provides people with jobs," Netyazhuk said.

Despite Eco-Vtor's massive achievements, its chairman He Shenggen is not going to rest on laurels. He said:" The road to success is always under construction."

In the nearest future, he plans to build a new plastic recycling plant in Fastiv to increase the number of jobs for locals by half. Endi