"With our machines and components, we have now reached a recycling volume of more than 25 million tonnes per year worldwide, which makes a significant contribution to the development of a circular economy for plastics," says Manfred Hackl, CEO of the EREMA Group. The group of companies manufactured 290 extruders for recycling plastic in the past financial year, supplemented by over 100 add-on components such as filter systems and ReFresher anti-odour technology. These recycling solutions generated total sales of EUR 380 million. Around 8,500 machines and components from the group are in operation in more than 100 countries. The EREMA Group employs 950 people worldwide.
"We are proud of this result for the financial year, considering the current state of the economy, but we have a cautious outlook for the coming months," says Hackl. "The plastics recycling industry is having a tough time competing with the low prices for virgin material, particularly in Europe, with companies still facing high energy and production costs." 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 be ready for the next phase of growth." The global sales network also strengthens the group of companies. EREMA, a member of the EREMA Group, has subsidiaries in North America, China and South Africa.
Strategic investments in all areas of the plastics recycling industry
In recent years, the EREMA Group has invested in developing specific machines, applications and infrastructure. "The opening of the new R&D Centre in Ansfelden last summer and the new machines in the Customer Technology Center at EREMA North America at the beginning of this year, have seen us complete the largest phase of investment in our history to date. We have invested more than EUR 110 million 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 in August 2023 of the holding company BLUEONE Solutions together with the Austrian family-owned company Lindner. Incorporating Lindner Washtech means that the EREMA Group's extensive portfolio now also includes washing technology.