ALPLA raises US profile with Atlanta art installation

Austria-based Alpenplastik Lehner Alwin GmbH (ALPLA Group) has commissioned a public art installation titled “Nice Time” in Atlanta. The global manufacturer of packaging and recycled-content plastic says the artwork is “designed to inspire communities to see a world in which the full value of all objects is utilized.”

The installation is intended in part to attract attention to ALPLA Group's Plastic Reimagined informational website.

The company partnered with artist Hyland Mather to create and install a large-scale art piece in Midtown Atlanta’s Colony Square.

The firm describes “Nice Time” as a visually stunning three-dimensional piece installed against a large wall in The Grove, a small park located in Colony Square. The piece was created entirely with plastics discovered by Mather in the Atlanta area as well as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) plastics collected by ALPLA employees.

Mather constructed “Nice Time” over a week for members of the public to observe and experience the circular economy first-hand, ALPLA says, culminating in an unveiling and celebration in the first week of June. The artwork will be displayed at the Midtown mixed-use Colony Square throughout this summer

“‘Nice Time’ is about the time we live in," Mather says. "For all of the incredibly challenging obstacles ahead of us, humans are amazing. Right now, despite all of the injustices, protests and concerns, we still live on a magnificent planet in an awe-inspiring time. This piece is about the moment, with the hope of an even brighter future.”

The name “Nice Time” was “inspired by a Portuguese expression, "If you don’t have dogs, you have to hunt with cats," which Mather says captures the ingenuity and thrift that farmers use in getting a job done even when answers aren’t easy to find.

“Reimagining our relationship with common and necessary materials is part of our responsibility in the world," he continues. "It’s a ‘Nice Time’ to wake up, be thankful and be the change we need to be to help our planet.”

ALPLA says the art installation is an extension of its ongoing sustainability initiative Plastic Reimagined, designed to provide reliable and action-based content to consumers on how to reduce plastic pollution and create a cleaner, more sustainable world.

“We’re inspired by how Hyland Mather exemplified upcycling with plastics through his art and hope that it will lead people to reimagine all of the possibilities for plastics and drive their actions toward sustainability,” says Billy Rice, ALPLA sustainability manager. “ALPLA is deeply committed to the transformative power of the circular economy as a company that uses and processes recycled plastics.”

“This is a ‘Nice Time’ for us all to think about ways in which we can help draw attention to and make a statement about improving the world we live in through small individual efforts, like forming good recycling habits, repurposing materials, and tasking ourselves with finding ways to proceed optimistically in a world that can feel sinister and cynical,” Mather adds.

ALPLA has some 23,300 employees globally who produce custom-made packaging, bottles, caps and molded parts at 196 sites in 47 countries.

In North America, ALPLA specializes in bottles and caps for the food, beverage, auto, health, beauty and home care industries. Globally, the company operates 13 recycling plants for PET and HDPE, including four joint ventures, in nine countries: Austria, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain and Thailand.