Alpla builds HDPE recycling plant in Mexico

Alpla Group, a global specialist for packaging solutions and recycling, continues to pursue a strategy of expanding its recycling activities worldwide. The family-owned enterprise from Austria is now building a plant in Mexico for recycling HDPE.

Alpla has acquired a property in Toluca, capital city of the State of México in the country’s centre. Construction of a state-of-the-art recycling plant will commence on it in autumn 2020, with its launch planned for the second half of 2021. The amount invested is roughly 15 million euros and 65 jobs will be created. The company will be run as a 100% subsidiary of Alpla, while the facility will have an annual capacity of 15,000 tons of HDPE recycled material for non-food applications, for example for packaging solutions for personal care or household cleaning products. The target markets are primarily Mexico, neighbouring countries in Central America and the United States.

By making this investment, the group is realising its global objectives for the New Plastics Economy (an initiative of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation). Secondly, the family-run company is staying true to its regional strategy, as Georg Lässer, Head of Recycling, explains, Alpla possesses many years of experience in recycling post-consumer PET in Mexico. The first bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Latin America commenced operation back in 2005 with Industria Mexicana de Reciclaje (IMER). IMER is a joint venture between Alpla México, Coca-Cola México and Coca-Cola Femsa. By joining forces, the partners have established the infrastructure for collecting and recycling used PET beverage bottles over the last 15 years. They produce almost 15,000 tons of food-grade recycled material from post-consumer PET each year. The company is seeking to utilize this network and vast experience in its development of HDPE recycling within the region.

Alpla announced its acquisition of two recycling plants in Spain in November 2019, taking its first step in the field of HDPE recycling.

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