HDPE recycling: ALPLA boosts circular plastic activities with Spanish acquisitions
07 Nov 2019 --- Global plastic packaging manufacturer ALPLA is set to expand its recycling activities by moving into polyolefin recycling through the acquisition of two companies based in Spain. With two of its own PET recycling plants in Austria and Poland (PET Recycling Team) and joint ventures in Mexico and Germany, ALPLA has long been an established partner in the field of PET recycling. These operations currently have an annual capacity of 70,000 metric tons. ALPLA is now “taking the next step” by buying two HDPE (high-density polyethylene) recycling plants.
ALPLA signed the purchase agreements for the acquisition of Suminco S.A. in Montcada (near Barcelona) and Replacal S.L. in Palencia (north of Madrid) in October. Both businesses belong to a Spanish family-owned enterprise with more than 35 years of experience in manufacturing HDPE recyclates. The annual capacity of the plants, which have a workforce totaling 50, will be expanded to 35,000 metric tons. The businesses will continue to operate under the existing management. The contracting partners have agreed not to disclose any further details.
Availability and high quality
“The investment in the two recycling plants in Spain brings us one step closer to our overall goal of being the leading manufacturer of sustainable plastic packaging,” says Georg Lässer, Head of Recycling at ALPLA.
To date, a large proportion of Suminco and Replacal’s HDPE recyclates has gone into the manufacture of corrugated pipes for sewage systems and other industrial applications. ALPLA now intends to use suitable recyclates for packaging manufacture. “We are safeguarding our production plants’ material supply and are doing our bit to achieve a functioning circular economy,” explains Lässer.
In the UK, ALPLA uses 13,000 metric tons of rHDPE every year for the production of milk and juice bottles.The former owner Jose Peruga adds: “The strong and recognized quality of our products in post-consumer recycling for more than three decades together with the synergies that will be created with ALPLA will allow us to improve the quality of our products even more,” adds the former owner Jose Peruga. “And ALPLA can produce HDPE packaging with a high content of recycled post-consumer material, as its customers and consumers demand.”
Circular economy
In 2018, ALPLA signed the Global Commitment of the New Plastics Economy, an initiative of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme. ALPLA’s defined goal is to expand its recycling activities and it has earmarked an investment sum of €50 million (US$55.4 million) for this purpose. Additionally, all of its packaging solutions are to be fully recyclable by 2025. The volume of processed post-consumer recycled materials is to rise to 25 percent of total material usage.
In collaboration with ALPLA, Henkel produced bottles using 100 percent chemically recycled plastic for the first time. Part of the ChemCycling project led by chemical producer BASF, Henkel will use the bottles as a pilot project for its Perwoll detergents. Through chemical recycling, mixed plastic waste that was previously impossible to recycle can be effectively reprocessed and reused.
ALPLA is also collaborating with paper packaging specialist BillerudKorsnäs on a groundbreaking project to develop a fully biobased and recyclable paper bottle.
Edited by Joshua Poole
