ALPLA Group significantly expands its PET recycling capacity in Germany

ALPLA is strengthening its efforts in the German recycling industry. With the complete acquisition of Texplast, a company based in Bitterfeld-Wolfen and previously part of the FROMM Group, as well as the joint venture PET Recycling Team Wolfen, the international packaging solutions and recycling specialist is significantly expanding its capacities. With this, ALPLA is investing in the quality and availability of PET recyclate for the German ‘bottle-to-bottle’ cycle.

Following the acquisition of BTB Recycling in October 2021, ALPLA increased its processing volumes in Germany to a total of around 75,000 tonnes of PET input. This includes 55,000 tonnes by Texplast and PET Recycling Team Wolfen and 20,000 tonnes by BTB. ‘Our goal is the cycle from bottle to bottle. We are stepping up our activities worldwide to meet growing demand for post-consumer recyclate. This investment will strengthen our position in the German market and guarantee high quality and availability of the material for our customers,’ ALPLA CEO Philipp Lehner explains.

Continuation of a successful collaboration
Texplast, founded in 1992, produces PET pellets and flakes from used PET bottles. The pellets are primarily used for preforms for new PET bottles. The colourful PET flakes produced during the process are used by the packaging manufacturer FROMM to produce packing strap. However, the focus has increasingly shifted towards the bottle cycle in recent years.

“The long-term, and successful, collaboration with the FROMM Group was the perfect basis for this development. The acquisition enabled us to increase our capacity quickly and efficiently. And this will also help us to secure production for both sides in the future,’ says Georg Lässer, Head of Recycling at ALPLA. The colourful flakes will also be supplied exclusively to FROMM in the future. ‘We have a highly motivated, fully functional team and we are proud to welcome all 125 Texplast employees into the ALPLA family,’ Lässer adds.

Rico Seiler, Managing Director of Texplast GmbH, on the acquisition: ‘The change in ownership underlines the transformation of Texplast from a material supplier for plastic strapping to a key player in the bottle cycle. With the new owners, the company will be able to fulfil its potential in this field even more efficiently.

PET Recycling Team Wolfen specialises in the recycling of PET bottles from ‘yellow bag’ – German bin for household recyclables. These are returned from household collection to the recycling loop. The sorting and processing systems at Texplast’s site in Wolfen, which are unique worldwide, were set up in 2019.

The acquisition was officially finalised on 25 February 2022. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price or any further details. The acquisition is subject to the legal and regulatory approval of the competent competition authorities.

Global expansion of recycling activities
In early 2021, the ALPLA Group announced that it would invest an average of 50 million euros a year until 2025 in the ongoing expansion of its recycling activities. In particular, it plans to globalise its activities in the area of high-quality recyclates in order to close the materials cycle in as many regions as possible. In total, the annual production capacity of ALPLA’s recycling companies, joint ventures and collaborations amounts to approximately 203,000 tonnes of rPET (recycled PET) and 74,000 tonnes of rHDPE (recycled HDPE).