Eko Red

What Eko Red does

Eko Red S.A.S. is a Medellín-headquartered Colombian PET bottle collection and recycling company operating within a circular-economy framework. Founded in 1964 and employing between 251 and 500 people, the company maintains a national collection footprint covering all 32 departments of Colombia through six physical collection centers (acopios) in Medellín, Bogotá, Cali, Barranquilla, Ibagué, and surrounding hubs, supported by a network of regional promoters and partnerships with ECA (authorized collection entities).

The company's core product is post-consumer PET collection, separation, and compaction, feeding 55,000+ tonnes of PET annually (2023) and 6+ million bottles into Enka de Colombia S.A.'s four recycling plants, where the material is transformed into higher-value products. Beyond the core PET operation, Eko Red runs three branded programs: Reciclave (with Coca-Cola FEMSA and Enka), which equips informal recyclers with motorcycles, presses, and protective gear; ReSÍclamos (with Tetra Pak), which extends collection to multi-layer packaging in markets such as Barranquilla; and HUB de Vidrio (with O-I Peldar), which captures glass in the Caribbean region.

Eko Red generates revenue primarily through transaction-based fees on PET collection and processing sold to industrial buyers (principally Enka), supplemented by partnership-related income from CPG brand-owner sustainability programs. The company is ISO 9001 certified by SGS, publishes annual sustainability reports, and is positioned as one of the largest PET recyclers globally by processing volume. Pricing is bilaterally negotiated and not publicly disclosed, and the business is structurally dependent on its Enka off-take relationship, which functions as both its primary customer and its processing infrastructure partner.

Name

Eko Red

Legal name

Eko Red S.A.S.

Website

https://ekored.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Eko Red is a Colombian PET bottle collection and recycling company that operates national collection infrastructure across all 32 departments, feeding Enka's four recycling plants and serving CPG brand owners such as Coca-Cola FEMSA, Tetra Pak, and O-I Peldar through circular-economy programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plastic Recycling Services

NAICS

Materials Recovery Facilities (56292)

akta.pro primary industry

Post-Consumer Plastic Collection & Sorting (MRF/PRF, Bale Supply) (EUAIAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Recycled Resin Trading & Distribution (PCR/PIR Commodity Markets) (EUAIAKAK)

Keywords

• PET bottle recycling
• Plastic waste collection
• Circular economy services
• Post-consumer recycling
• Recycled PET materials

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

Colombia

HQ region

Latin America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. PET Collection and Processing: Eko Red collects PET bottles from recyclers and processing centers across Colombia, processes them through separation and compaction, and sells the processed PET materials to Enka and other industries for transformation into new products.
2. Glass Collection (Hub de Vidrio): Through the partnership with O-I Peldar, Eko Red collects and processes glass materials in the Caribbean region for transformation into new glass products.

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Eko Red collects post-consumer PET bottles from individual recyclers, cooperatives, and ECA centers across all 32 departments of Colombia through six physical collection centers (acopios). The company separates and compacts the materials, then supplies the processed PET to Enka de Colombia's four recycling plants for transformation into high-value-added products, processing over 6 million bottles and 55,000+ tonnes of PET annually. Complementary collection services include glass (HUB de Vidrio with O-I Peldar) and Tetra Pak packaging (ReSÍclamos with Tetra Pak).

Product overview

Eko Red operates as a PET bottle collection and recycling company across Colombia, offering collection services in all 32 departments through a network of collection centers. The core offering consists of PET collection and recycling services that feed into Enka's 4 recycling plants. The company also runs specialized projects including Reciclave (in partnership with Coca Cola and Enka), ReSíclamos (with Tetra Pak for packaging collection), and HUB de Vidrio (with O-I Peldar for glass recycling in the Caribbean region).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Reciclave: Project focused on strengthening the recycling network in different zones of Colombia, in alliance with Coca Cola Company, Coca Cola FEMSA and Enka.
• ReSíclamos
• HUB de vidrio

Products and services

• PET Collection and Recycling Services Comprehensive PET bottle collection service covering all 32 departments of Colombia, including collection from recyclers, separation, compaction, and supply of processed PET to Enka de Colombia's 4 recycling plants for transformation into high-value-added products.
• Reciclave Project focused on strengthening the recycling network across different zones of Colombia, implemented in alliance with Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola FEMSA, and Enka. Provides recyclers with equipment such as motocycles and presses to improve collection efficiency and coverage.
• ReSÍclamos Project developed in alliance with Tetra Pak to create collection networks for Tetra Pak packaging materials, reincorporating them into the productive cycle for the creation of new products.
• HUB de Vidrio

Quantifiable outcome

• 6+ million PET bottles transformed annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Coca-Cola Company / Coca-Cola FEMSAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through the Reciclave project, which focuses on strengthening the recycling network in different regions of Colombia. The project provides equipment (motocycles, presses) and support to recyclers to improve collection efficiency and coverage.
• Enka de Colombia S.A.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnka is the parent company and main industrial partner. Eko Red supplies processed PET bottles to Enka's 4 recycling plants for transformation into high-value products. They also share the Buzón de Transparencia (Transparency Box) system and joint policies.
• Tetra PakcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through the ReSíclamos project to develop collection networks for Tetra Pak materials, with the goal of reintegrating these materials into the productive cycle for creating new products.
• O-I PeldarcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through the HUB de Vidrio project to strengthen glass collection in the Caribbean Zone of Colombia, leveraging Eko Red's existing collection network and experience.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ALPLA: Austrian-headquartered global packaging and PET solutions company with significant rPET production capacity and recycling operations across LATAM and globally. Comparable material flows but on a far more diversified scale than Eko Red.
• Indorama Ventures: Global PET resin and packaging producer with integrated rPET and mechanical/advanced recycling operations across multiple continents. A much larger incumbent offering overlapping rPET outputs at global scale.
• Biffa: UK-listed waste management and recycling major operating PET and polymers collection, sortation, and processing. Closely mirrors Eko Red's collection-to-processor business model, but in a more developed EPR/mature recycling market.
• Waste Management Inc. North America's largest waste services provider with material recovery facilities processing PET and other recyclables. Comparable collection/sortation infrastructure at much larger scale, serving as a benchmark for collection throughput economics.
• Veolia Environmental Services: Global environmental services and waste management operator with PET collection, MRF/sortation, and recycling capabilities. Wider portfolio than Eko Red, but operates very similar post-consumer plastic collection and processing activities at scale.
• Eastman Chemical Company: US chemical major operating molecular recycling and PET/PET-recycling assets (including its Kingsport facility). Overlaps with Eko Red's downstream rPET conversion ambitions and shapes long-term rPET demand from beverage brands.

Direct peers

• CarbonLite: One of the largest US PET bottle-to-bottle recyclers, with comparable collection-to-recycled-resin operations focused on PET food-grade output. Direct PET-to-PET parallel to Eko Red's collection-and-transformation chain through Enka.
• Phoenix Technologies International: US-based producer of food-grade rPET resin from post-consumer PET bottles, operating bottle-to-resin processing similar to what Eko Red's collected material flows into via Enka's plants.
• PetStar: Mexico's largest food-grade PET recycler, sourcing bottles via a national collection network and partnerships with Coca-Cola and other beverage majors. Closest analog to Eko Red in LATAM in terms of bottle collection infrastructure, beverage-brand partnerships, and food-grade rPET output.
• Enka de Colombia S.A. Sister/affiliated Colombian PET processor that operates 4 recycling plants receiving Eko Red's collected bottles. Directly comparable as a domestic LATAM PET recovery and transformation operator, sharing corporate governance and transparency policies with Eko Red.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ekoreds.a.s2328
• Facebookfacebook.com/ekoredco
• Instagraminstagram.com/ekoredco/?hl=es
• Xx.com/EKOREDco
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/eko-red-s-a-s

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Eko Red