Drinks giants Coca-Cola and Asahi will open Australia’s first PET plastics recycling facility in Albury on Friday, boosting domestic capacity by as many as 1 billion bottles a year.

The $45 million plant – developed as a major partnership with Pact Group, Cleanaway Waste Management, Asahi and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners – is set to expand Australia’s stocks of locally sourced and recycled polyethylene terephthalate plastics to 50,000 tonnes.