Erema to build R&D center

Austria-based plastic recycling equipment producer Erema Engineering Recycling Maschinen u Anlagen GmbH is building a 16,700-square-foot research and development (R&D) center at its main campus in Ansfelden, Austria. Completion of the project is scheduled for next February.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on the site April 6 for two buildings with nearly 16,700 square feet of space that will include office space for some 50 people. “The R&D center will offer cross-departmental and cross-company test machines and laboratory for research and development of plastics recycling technologies to further advance the circular economy,” the firm states.

“Plastics recycling is currently evolving very rapidly from a niche to a trend,” Erema says, adding, “this is driven by the legislative targets for plastics recycling that the European Union and many countries around the world have enacted, as well as by the European Green Deal, which aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent and in which the circular economy plays a very central role.”

The company says there is not just one recycling solution for different types of plastic scrap but rather different ones depending on the type of plastic, the product and the application intended for the recycled plastic.

“It makes a difference whether clean production waste is recycled and returned to the production process or whether printed and contaminated packaging materials collected in yellow bags are recycled and used to make food packaging again,” says Markus Huber-Lindinger, managing director of Erema.

“While some plastics processing loops, such as for PET [polyethylene terephthalate] bottles, have already been closed, many other plastic waste streams still require a great deal of R&D in cooperation with everyone involved in the value chain to produce recycled pellets that meet the very highest standards for the production of new products,” says Huber-Lindinger. “More space will be available for this in the new center.”

Markus Achleitner, minister for economic affairs in the Upper Austria region that includes Ansfelden, says, “With its innovative companies and research centers, Upper Austria has a focus on plastics competence. Erema is one of the technology leaders in the plastics industry whose products are successful on the world market. The basis for this success is created with intensive research and development work. I, therefore, congratulate the company on taking this step to build a new R&D center. This will strengthen Upper Austria as a business and research location and create attractive jobs.”