The EREMA Group, headquartered in Ansfelden near Linz, Austria, closes the 2023/24 financial year with a total turnover of 380 million euros. Through a joint venture with the Lindner Group, the group of companies is expanding its portfolio to include car washes. The EREMA Group GmbH now comprises eight subsidiaries: EREMA, PURE LOOP, PLASMAC, KEYCYCLE, Lindner Washtech, UMAC, plasticpreneur and 3S.
“With our systems and components, we now achieve recycling capacities of over 25 million tons per year worldwide and thus make a significant contribution to the development of a circular economy for plastics,” says Manfred Hackl, CEO of the EREMA Group. Group-wide, the Group manufactured 290 extruders for plastics recycling in the past financial year, supplemented by over 100 individual components such as filter systems and the ReFresher anti-odour technology. These recycling solutions generated total sales of 380 million euros. Around 8,500 machines and components from the group of companies are in use in more than 100 countries. The EREMA Group employs 950 people worldwide.
“We are proud of this result for the financial year under the general economic conditions, but are cautious about the coming months,” says Hackl. “The plastics recycling industry is struggling with the low prices for virgin material, particularly in Europe, and the high energy and production costs continue to pose challenges for companies.” Nevertheless, he also sees opportunities in the current situation: “We are using this time to further optimize our processes and invest more in research and development. Our aim is to continuously increase the added value for our customers and to be optimally prepared for the next phase of growth.” The global sales network also strengthens the group of companies. The subsidiary EREMA operates branches in North America, China and South Africa.
Strategic investments for a holistic plastics recycling industry
In recent years, the EREMA Group has made targeted investments in machines, application developments and infrastructure. “With the opening of the new R&D Center in Ansfelden last summer and the expansion of the machinery in the Customer Technology Center at EREMA North America at the beginning of this year, we have completed the largest investment program in our history to date. More than 110 million euros have been invested in the expansion and modernization of our international locations over the past five years,” emphasizes Horst Wolfsgruber, CFO of the EREMA Group. Another important milestone is the founding of the holding company BLUEONE Solutions together with the Austrian family-owned company Lindner, which was initiated in August. With the incorporation of Lindner Washtech, the EREMA Group’s extensive portfolio now also includes car washes.
Encouraging developments in post-consumer and PET recycling
The new DuaFil® Compact technology, which EREMA has developed specifically for demanding applications with high levels of dirt and moisture, is proving successful. Around 20 INTAREMA® TVEplus® DuaFil® Compact systems have been sold since the market launch at K 2022. In the post-consumer segment, the ReFresher technology for the production of odour-optimized recycled pellets is also proving its worth and is now in use worldwide with a total capacity of one million tonnes per year for film and regrind applications. One innovation is the DischargePro control system for the EREMA laser filter, which has been nominated for this year’s Plastics Recycling Awards Europe. The discharge control system reacts automatically to fluctuations during the recycling process and reduces melt loss by up to 50 percent. With the new fast-track program, EREMA is responding to the demand for quickly available machines at an attractive price-performance ratio.
VACUREMA® systems have been proving their efficiency in bottle applications for 25 years. Over 400 EREMA PET systems for food grade are in operation worldwide and achieve a total capacity of more than 4.5 million tons per year. PET recycling is also becoming increasingly important in the textile industry. The FibrePro:IV technology was developed specifically for fibre-to-fibre recycling, for which machine combinations from EREMA or PURE LOOP, which specializes in shredder-extruder technology, are used depending on the shape and contamination of the PET fibre waste. The EREMA Group has created its own fiber technology center for these applications at its headquarters in Ansfelden.
Great potential for plastics recycling
The amount of plastic produced worldwide is currently around 400 million tons per year – and rising. Of this, 9 percent is recycled globally. A huge potential for the EREMA Group, as Manfred Hackl emphasizes: “With our expertise and the unique product portfolio within our group of companies, we create a decisive competitive advantage for our customers and drive plastics recycling forward worldwide.”
Cover photo: The EREMA Group with its eight subsidiaries is managed by CEO Manfred Hackl (right) and CFO Horst Wolfsgruber. (Source: Erema)
