Shalva Akhvlediani: Turning Vision Into Value at Tegeta Green Planet

When the conversation turns to circular economy leadership in Eastern Europe, Shalva Akhvlediani is one of the names shaping the future. As CEO of Tegeta Green Planet — a key subsidiary of Tegeta Holding — he is leading Georgia’s transformation from traditional waste management toward a modern, circular industrial model.

But his journey to this leadership role wasn’t a straight path. It was built through years of dedication, operational discipline, and the ability to see opportunity in places most overlook — qualities that now define both his management philosophy and Tegeta Green Planet’s success.

A Career Built on Vision and Execution

Shalva Akhvlediani began his career in the automotive and industrial services sector, working his way up through management positions that demanded both technical understanding and strategic foresight. Early on, he distinguished himself through his ability to streamline operations and align business processes with long-term growth objectives.

At Tegeta Holding, one of Georgia’s most influential automotive company groups, Akhvlediani’s leadership journey accelerated. His analytical approach to problem-solving and ability to lead diverse teams soon placed him in senior positions across the group’s core business lines — from automotive servicing to logistics, sales, and industrial projects.

By the time Tegeta Green Planet was founded in 2022, Akhvlediani was already deeply familiar with the company’s broader ecosystem: its customers, suppliers, and regulatory environment. That made him the natural choice to lead the group’s newest and most visionary project — a company dedicated to building Georgia’s first circular economy infrastructure.

“For me, leadership is about connecting ambition with action,” says Akhvlediani.
“You can’t build sustainability through speeches. You build it through systems, partnerships, and measurable impact.”

From Industry to Innovation

Established under the framework of Georgia’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation, Tegeta Green Planet operates at the crossroads of policy and industry. It manages the collection and recycling of used tyres, oils, and batteries, helping companies comply with national environmental standards while creating economic value from waste.

Under Akhvlediani’s direction, the company in close cooperation with Tegeta Holding has built a nationwide waste collection network covering 45 locations across Georgia — a feat that required coordination with private operators, municipal authorities, and hundreds of small and medium enterprises.

The next step in this vision is even more ambitious: the construction of Georgia’s first industrial-scale tyre recycling plant, currently underway and expected to begin operations in the third quarter of 2026.

The plant, designed to meet European environmental and efficiency standards, will process thousands of tonnes of end-of-life tyres annually. Its production line will separate steel, textiles, and rubber granules for reuse — the latter being repurposed for road construction, sports flooring, and insulation materials.

“Every tyre we recycle is a material reborn — pollution avoided, and value created,” Akhvlediani explains.
“We’re building an economy that regenerates itself.”

Steering Tegeta Holding’s Sustainability Vision

Tegeta Holding is the largest automotive Georgian company in the Caucasus and Central Asia. The company offers customers a full range of automotive ecosystems, including light, heavy and construction. Further, commercial, passenger and industrial transport is available. Tegeta has 28 service centers countrywide. The holding conducts international trade on four continents. Tegeta exclusively represents auto brands Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley, Volvo, Toyota and Mazda. The holding’s partners are truck and special equipment premium brands, among them MAN and JCB. Tegeta is the largest importer of more than 300 leading automobile brand products in Georgia, including Bridgestone, Michelin, Varta, Bosch, Shell, Motul, Pirelli and others. Tegeta Holding is today one of the largest employers in Georgia, with around 3,000 employees.

Tegeta Holding became the first Georgian company to develop a corporate sustainability strategy aligned with international standards. Its CSR Strategy embeds sustainability across everyday operations, making environmental stewardship a core priority. Today, Tegeta Green Planet stands as one of the Holding’s key subsidiaries, integrating environmental efficiency into the business model — from waste reduction in service centers to the use of digital traceability systems for material recovery and recycling

“Shalva’s work embodies what we call ‘operational sustainability’,” notes one of his senior colleagues at Tegeta. “He’s not just setting targets — he’s designing systems that deliver them.”

Representing Georgia on the Global Stage

This October, Akhvlediani took Georgia’s sustainability story to an international audience at the RAR2025 Conference in Lisbon — one of the world’s most prestigious events for rubberized asphalt and circular infrastructure.

His presentation, “Circular Industry in Motion: Tegeta Green’s Path from Tyre Waste to Infrastructure Value,” showcased how Georgia is turning waste tyres into high-quality materials for infrastructure development. The initiative, backed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Georgia, aims to make recycled rubber a key component of national road projects — improving durability, reducing noise, and cutting maintenance costs.

At RAR2025, Akhvlediani positioned Tegeta Green Planet not only as a Georgian success story but as a potential European partner in recycling technologies, industrial engineering, and sustainability-driven research.

“Portugal and Georgia share the same pragmatic spirit,” he said at the conference.
“We both believe that sustainability should start with what we can do today — in our industries, our cities, and our roads.”

A Leader with a Builder’s Mindset

What sets Shalva Akhvlediani apart as a CEO is his pragmatic leadership style. He is not a distant visionary — he is a builder, involved in the details of process design, compliance, and business planning.

Colleagues describe him as disciplined, empathetic, and quietly persuasive. He listens before making decisions, and he measures success by implementation rather than announcement.
His philosophy combines engineering logic with entrepreneurial drive — a rare blend in today’s corporate landscape.

In interviews, Akhvlediani often emphasizes that innovation must be practical to be lasting.

“You can’t build green economies on inspiration alone,” he says. “It has to make economic sense. That’s when environmental projects become sustainable — when they work as businesses.”

Looking Ahead

With the tyre recycling plant entering its final design phase, Akhvlediani’s next goal is to expand Tegeta Green Planet’s partnerships across Europe. His strategy focuses on technology exchange, industrial cooperation, and education — helping Georgia develop a new generation of engineers and environmental managers capable of sustaining a circular economy.

He also aims to strengthen ties between public institutions, private industry, and academia, ensuring that Georgia’s waste recovery model remains both innovative and replicable.

“We are a small country with big ambitions,” Akhvlediani reflects.
“Our scale is our advantage — it allows us to move fast, test ideas, and show what’s possible when business and responsibility walk side by side.”

About Tegeta Green Planet

Founded in 2022, Tegeta Green Planet is a subsidiary of Tegeta Holding, the largest automotive company in the Caucasus region and Central Asia. The company manages the collection and recycling of waste tyres, oils, and batteries under Georgia’s Extended Producer Responsibility framework, and is currently constructing the country’s first large-scale tyre recycling factory.

Under the leadership of Shalva Akhvlediani, Tegeta Green Planet stands at the forefront of Georgia’s transition toward a circular, sustainable, and globally connected economy.

All Photos Credits : @gabrielamartinfotografia