Aliplast gains Kronos Polymer Polska majority stake to double recycling capacity

Aliplast has signed an agreement through its Polish subsidiary, Aliplast Polska, to acquire a 70% stake in Kronos Polymer Polska, a newly formed company that will be spun off from Kronos Polymer.

Kronos Polymer, a Polish operator active in the recycling and processing of PE, operates an industrial site in Gniew, Poland, completed in late 2022. The newly formed company involved in the transaction will acquire a plant equipped with a complete PE sorting, grinding, and washing line with an installed production capacity of 12,000 metric tons per year. 

The move aims to enable Aliplast, part of Herambiente, a Hera Group company, to gradually expand the local market, performing on-site recycling and regeneration, thus optimizing flows and logistics.

Michele Petrone, CEO at Aliplast, says: “This transaction will allow us to further expand Aliplast’s production capacity, in line with the Hera Group’s strategy, which sees resource regeneration as a fundamental pillar.”

“The launch of the process leading to the acquisition of a majority stake in the new company Kronos Polymer Polska is also consistent with the parent company’s business plan, which calls for continued growth in the environmental sector by expanding its target markets.” 

Petrone highlights that the move would strengthen the company’s presence in Poland and support its effort to tap into the growth in demand for recycled plastic in that country.

Demand for traceable recycled plastics

The transaction and other ongoing projects are set to “strengthen industrial synergies” within the Herambiente Group. Additionally, the acquisition will double the recycling capacity of its subsidiary, Aliplast, to over 210,000 metric tons annually, according to the group. 

In line with the group’s 2029 Business Plan, Aliplast is expanding production capacity, including in foreign markets, focusing on the quality and traceability of recycled material, and enhancing targeted expertise to meet the needs of the European market, utilizing its presence in countries such as France and Spain. 

“These activities are more strategic, especially at a time like the current one, when the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation introduces new European rules for the design, production, and management of packaging waste. The aim is to promote a circular economy, making it essential to structurally rethink the entire packaging supply chain,” says Aliplast.

The acquisition is subject to certain customary conditions precedent, including the aforementioned demerger and the transfer of environmental permits. Aliplast expects the transaction to be completed by the end of 2026.

Last year, Aliplast participated in Cosmopack, an international trade fair dedicated to the beauty industry. It supported the organization of the “Never Ending Beauty: Cosmetic Packaging between Circularity and Supply Chain Synergy/Sustainability of the Cosmetic Product” talk at the event.

Meanwhile, Hera Group recently integrated Gurit Italia’s Carmignano di Brenta plant dedicated to PET recycling. Aliplast plants focus on recycling post-consumer materials, including bottles and other everyday packaging, recycling polymers such as PET, LDPE, HDPE, and PP, and transforming them into granules or flakes for various uses.