ALPLA Group (Hard, Austria)is increasing its presence in Southeast Asia with the opening of a new plant in Thailand, following a year of construction. In addition to production and administration, the new, 24,000-m2 building in Chachoengsao, near Bangkok, includes a technical center for product development and the first STUDIOa in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region for designing new packaging solutions with customers. With its second location in Thailand, ALPLA is multiplying its production capacity in the country. Chachoengsao is replacing Prachinburi as the headquarters and expanding the portfolio to include injection molding (IM) and one-step injection stretch-blow molding (ISBM) technologies.
“Our involvement in Thailand more than 20 years ago represented the start of our activities in Southeast Asia and is still central to our growth today. The flagship plant in Chachoengsao covers all the needs of our customers and unlocks new opportunities in the market,” emphasizes ALPLA CEO Philipp Lehner. The opening on 11 February 2025 saw roughly 200 high-ranking guests on site, including Pongpol Yodmuangcharoen (Secretary to the Minister of Industry), Austrian ambassador Wilhelm Donko and Michael Friedl from the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber.
ALPLA is going to manufacture high-quality plastic bottles, preforms, matching closures and injection-molded parts in Chachoengsao using all core technologies. One focus is on one-step injection stretch-blow molding (ISBM) and injection molding (IM), which are two newly introduced technologies. ‘The all-in-one concept strengthens our leading role as a system provider for safe, affordable and sustainable plastic packaging from a single source. Chachoengsao combines technological diversity, the highest quality and customer service under one roof. In this way, we wish to expand our market share and unlock new segments,’ says Roland Wallner, ALPLA Managing Director Region Asia Pacific (APAC).
All production lines have been producing in series since the beginning of 2025. More than 190 skilled workers are employed in Chachoengsao. The new location in the Bangkok metropolitan region stands out for its customer proximity and optimal connections. At its first plant in Prachinburi, ALPLA will concentrate fully on extrusion blow molding (EBM) in the future.
In 2022, ALPLA consolidated its business in Southeast Asia and China to form the new Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. That same year, the company entered recycling as a joint venture partner of Thai company PTT Global Chemical. The joint state-of-the-art recycling plant ENVICCO in Rayong province supplies 30,000 tons of food-grade recycled PET material (rPET) and 15,000 tonnes of recycled HDPE material (rHDPE) annually.
“In Thailand, we are also growing together with our customers. With two high-performance production plants and the recycling plant, we are securing the long-term supply of sustainable packaging solutions and strengthening the nationwide circular economy,”explains Daniel Qiu, ALPLA General Manager Thailand. ALPLA now also offers added value for better products with STUDIOa as well as the technical center. The innovative one-stop-shop for product design includes customers right from the development phase and creates more sustainable packaging thanks to lightweighting and design for recycling.