Erema expands; FDA approves bottle-to-bottle HDPE recycling

Ansfelden, Austria — Plastics recycling equipment manufacturer Erema (Ansfelden, Austria) last week dedicated a new expansion to its facility—a move Erema managing partner Gerhard Wendelin says was necessary due to demand growth that’s created a 25% jump in turnover this year compared to 2006. Wendelin says he expects the company to break the €100 million turnover mark this year for the first time.

The new €6.5-million addition is the company’s largest so far in its 24-year history and will provide an increase of 40% in production space. The company relies on about 400 external suppliers, with more than 300 coming from the state of Upper Austria, to provide JIT deliveries of semifinished parts for assembly in Ansfelden. Erema makes none of the parts itself but contracts with vendors to supply to its specifications. The company exports 98% of all units assembled at its headquarters.

During the plant dedication, the company unveiled a new €3 million Vacurema PET recycling/extrusion system, the Prime 2021T-VS, which is the latest in a family of recycling units. This high-output machine, rated at up to 2500 kg/hr (20 tonnes/yr), has been sold to Amcor PET Packaging North America for bottle-to-bottle PET recycling for customer PepsiCo. A second yet-to-be-built unit has been ordered by an undisclosed U.S. client.

During the open house event, Wendelin also revealed that the company has just received FDA approval of its bottle-to-bottle recycling method for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) milk and dairy containers. (Erema already has FDA approval for its PET bottle-to-bottle technology.) According to him, HDPE presents more problems in removal of contamination than PET, and he sees this as a major achievement that is expected to be accepted in EU countries as well as in Asia.—[email protected]