Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (Milan, Italy) and Hera Group announced the signing of a strategic agreement between Aliplast, Hera Group’s subsidiary for the collection, recycling and conversion of plastics, and NextChem, Maire Tecnimont Group’s company for the development of projects and technologies for the energy transition. NextChem will provide technology and engineering, procurement and construction services to build a plant which will use proprietary innovative technology MyReplast for upcycling of plastic waste into high value-added polymers.
These partners are each leader in their respective sectors. Hera Group’s Herambiente unit – Italy’s pioneer in the treatment of all types of waste – has 90 plants with an important know-how in the management of the entire environmental chain, in which Aliplast contributes with a circular and integrated stronghold in plastic sector. Maire Tecnimont Group is a global leader in process engineering and strongly committed – through its subsidiary NextChem – to developing projects and technologies for the energy transition and circular economy. Maire Tecnimont adopts an innovative industrial approach focused on engineering of transformation processes able to produce polymeric high value-added materials which can replace virgin materials derived from fossil sources.
The synergy between skills and resources of these two big players will result in the only plant of its kind in Europe. One of Hera Group’s sites will use the innovative MyReplastTM technology licensed by NextChem and will produce recycled polymers of high quality and purity, with high-level chemical-physical and mechanical performance.
The aim of the plant is to treat post-consumer plastic waste to obtain customized recycled products capable of meeting customer requirements and quality market standards, with features and properties on par with virgin polymers from fossil sources. This is a cutting-edge plant engineering experience.
Once fully operational, the plant – powered by green sources thanks to Herambiente – will be able to produce up to 30,000 tons of polymers per year. The plant will ensure high security standards and be equipped with innovative features such as processes automation and high digitalization for data analytics, thereby allowing it to maximize energy efficiency, delivering further environmental benefits.
With this agreement, Aliplast takes another step forward in its mission to attain excellence, also at international level, in plastic recycling and regeneration. It is the first Italian company to have reached full integration in the plastic life cycle, using technology completely developed in house. Aliplast operates plants in France, Spain and Poland and is leader in the production of flexible film of PE and PET sheets, with 90,000 tons per year of finished products and regenerated polymers, and over 90% recovery/recycling in terms of volumes.
The partnership with NextChem will allow Aliplast to exploit recycling and compounding opportunities in order to expand into the sector of rigid plastics, like PP, HDPE and ABS, which are difficult to recycle effectively with mechanical processes.
The aim is to continue to serve customers offering them a larger choice of high-quality recycled plastics, moving towards more advanced circular economy models in line not only with EU and UN targets but also with the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, an important international network for the circular economy, of which Hera Group is a member.
“This partnership is necessary to combine excellence and strengths of players that can make a difference in the energy transition towards a more sustainable development model, which has been Hera Group’s goal for several years across all business lines. Plastics need a recycling industry based on technology and innovation, to handle difficult waste that mechanical recycling cannot treat. This is why Aliplast decided to pick NextChem’s upcycling technology to achieve sustainability targets and to meet customers’ needs, which increasingly require high-quality polymers”, says Tomaso Tommasi di Vignano, Executive Chairman of Hera Group.
“This agreement is a great result for our strategy to develop plastic waste upcycling through our MyReplastTM technology, starting with our plant in Bedizzole and which aims to expand at the European and international level. The Recycling sector needs a quality-based approach and an industrial vision, with a strong focus on the market and synergies between players, like for example the partnership with Hera Group”, says Pierroberto Folgiero, Maire Tecnimont and NextChem CEO.