2018-2019 financial year was the most successful business one in the Erema history. Consolidated total turnover of more than 180 million euro in 2018-2019 represents an increase of 16% compared to the previous year. A total of 6,000 Erema plastics recycling machines are currently in operation in 108 countries around the world. The company group starts the new 2019-2020 financial year with personnel changes at management level and the expansion of the company headquarters in Ansfelden/Linz.
The plastics industry is undergoing change. In the recent past, political and voluntary initiatives as well as an end to the plastic waste exports to China have led to more investment in high-quality recycling technology. The increasing demand is reflected in a new turnover record of the group of companies of 180 million euros. Half of this volume was generated in Europe.
This increase is due to growing sales worldwide in all three recycling markets: post-consumer (contaminated and used plastics), in-house and industrial (clean production waste), and bottle recycling (PET, food-contact-grade). In the latter case, incoming orders almost tripled compared to previous years. This can be attributed to the high demand for proven Vacurema technology and new processes based on it, such as the flakes to preforms XTreme Renew System developed together with Sipa. The bottle-to-bottle system Vacunite, which was first launched in November 2018, is also making its mark.
Trendsetter in post-consumer solutions
Order intake in the post-consumer segment also increased again significantly, doubling within the last three years. "Here we are pioneers and trendsetters in solutions for a growing recycling industry that focuses on quality and is becoming increasingly industrialized", said Manfred Hackl, CEO of the Erema Group. He is also pleased at the way sales are developing in the in-house and industrial sector. Both the Erema solutions and the shredder-extruder solutions of the group subsidiary Pure Loop were able to increase their turnover yet again. The expansion of the in-house product range thanks to participation in Plasmac, Vacunite and also the newly-created Keycycle business unit as a provider of complete solutions for plastics recycling, are current examples of new products and innovations. "We thrive on proximity to our customers! This enables us to understand their challenges and develop appropriate solutions", said Michael Heitzinger, Managing Director of Erema, one of the recipes for success of the world market leader.
Management changes
At the beginning of the 2019-2020 financial year, Klaus Feichtinger will step down at his own request as CEO of Erema Group. However, he will continue to contribute his know-how as a manager in the area of IP and new technologies. Together with Manfred Hackl CEO, Horst Wolfsgruber CFO is now responsible for the strategic planning and ongoing development of the entire group of companies. In order to be able to concentrate fully on this task in the Erema Group, Manfred Hackl is handing over operational management of the subsidiary Erema. Markus Huber-Lindinger takes over the areas of technology and production as Managing Director. Together with Michael Heitzinger, Managing Director responsible for Sales, Customer Services and Project Planning, he forms the management team duo at Erema. "We are convinced that this allocation of tasks will enable us to meet the many challenges, both in terms of the size of our group of companies, and due to the rapid changes in the industry, so that we can continue on our successful course of growth", said Hackl and Heitzinger.
Expansion of company headquarters
The expansion of the company headquarters in Ansfelden/Linz is also a response to increasing demand. End of March there was the ground-breaking for the construction of additional production and office space, scheduled to go into operation in spring 2020.