Alpla moves into HPDE recycling with two acquisitions

Austrian packaging manufacturer Alpla has expanded its recycling activities with its acquisition of two Spanish recycling companies, Suminco and Replacal. The purchase marks Alpla’s move into HDPE recycling.

Both companies are owned by a Spanish family-owned enterprise and offer more than 35 years of experience in manufacturing HDPE recyclates.

To date, a large proportion of Suminco and Replacal’s HDPE recyclates have been used in the manufacture of corrugated pipes for sewage systems and other industrial applications. Alpla now intends to use suitable recyclates for its own manufacture of packaging.

Alpla has two PET recycling plants in Austria and Poland and has formed joint ventures in Mexico and Germany. The Austrian company has cooperated with Texplast on PET recycling since July 2018, as part of the PET Recycling Team. Its acquisition of two HDPE recycling plants is the firms next step in recycling and to achieve a functioning circular economy.

Georg Lässer, head of recycling at Alpla said: “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.”

The former owner of Suminco Jose Peruga said: ‘The strong and recognised 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.

“And Alpla can produce HDPE packaging with a high content of recycled post-consumer material, as their customers and consumers demand.”

In line with terms of the agreement, Suminco and Replacal will continue to operate under the existing management.

As part of its goal to expand its recycling activities, Alpla has set aside an investment €50 million for this purpose. The company has also made a commitment for its packaging solution to be fully recyclable by 2025.

Earlier this year, Alpla joined forces with Swedish packaging materials provider BillerudKorsnäs to create a new joint venture and develop a sustainable paper bottle.