EREMA Group acquires stake in start-up company plasticpreneur

EREMA Group GmbH has acquired a minority share in Austria-based start-up plasticpreneur, which manufactures compact mechanical recycling solutions that can be operated without any prior knowledge of the plastics processing industry.

The machine portfolio covers grinding, granulation, extrusion and injection moulding of waste plastics into new end-products.

In the two years since the company was founded, plasticpreneur has sold 330 machines in more than 70 countries on all continents. In addition, they have designed and made more than 750 custom-built and application-specific moulds.

Announcing the partnership during the Plastics Recycling Show Europe event in Amsterdam (22-23 June 2022), EREMA Group CEO Manfred Hackl said: "The young founders and their dedicated team exude pioneering spirit, want to shape the future with their work and put their heart and soul into the circular economy and plastics recycling.

“We believe in this company. plasticpreneur can enable plastics recycling in areas where no recycling is possible.”

Remote developing regions have struggled with recycling rates due to a lack of high-tech solutions and infrastructure. The Austria-based recycling equipment start-up has shown this pioneering spirit by providing compact, portable solutions that local waste collectors can use in situ, whether at a beach to create new products, or in schools to show the versatility of plastics.

plasticpreneur founder and CEO Sören Lex added: "For our machines to be used in regions with little infrastructure, they must be easy to operate without prior knowledge. The fact that we also develop end-product solutions needed locally makes our range of services particularly attractive here.”

As soon as recycling becomes a source of income for the operators, they too become entrepreneurs, which explains the name of the start-up. Customers in these countries include can generate everyday consumer goods using plastic waste and the added value remains local.

Demand for plasticpreneur machines is also increasing in industrialised countries: In educational institutions to raise awareness of the need for a circular economy, and in by established plastics processing companies developing prototypes efficiently.

Both Hackl and Lex are convinced that the partnership will be mutually beneficial.