EREMA Group: Plastics Recycling Remains a Long-Term Growth Market

Despite challenging market conditions, the EREMA Group remains focused on the ongoing development of its recycling technologies and committed to producing in Austria. Since 1983, the Group has sold around 9,200 systems and components with an annual global capacity for recycling over 26 million tonnes of plastic waste.

Ansfelden, 6. August 2026 – The EREMA Group defied the difficult market conditions in the 2025/26 financial year to post a positive result. To increase the percentage of recyclates in plastic products, the family-owned business continues to invest in research and development. Global demand for plastic is rising fast. As a result, the Group’s management expects a sharp increase in demand for high-performance recycling technologies too. In addition, recycled plastic is also gaining importance around the world as a secondary raw material.

Profits despite lower revenue

For the third year in succession, the plastics recycling market finds itself under considerable pressure. It is having to cope with high energy costs, slack demand for recyclates and intense international competition. According to Manfred Hackl, CEO of the EREMA Group, these challenges are felt particularly by businesses based in Europe: “In Europe we have created a cost structure that puts industrial companies at an increasing disadvantage in the international marketplace.”

The EREMA Group also felt the effects of current market trends. In the past financial year, which ended at the end of March, the recycling specialists posted revenue of EUR 235 million – a drop of 28 per cent compared to the previous year. “Many customers are postponing their investments,” says Horst Wolfsgruber, CFO of the EREMA Group. “We feel the effects of that straight away. That the EREMA Group was able to close the past financial year with a profit in these challenging market conditions fills me with pride and gratitude. We achieved it thanks to our structure as a stable, family-owned business, to keeping a tight rein on costs and to the dedication of our employees.”

Sharp rise in global demand for plastic

Because the EREMA Group operates internationally, it can compensate for the lower demand in Europe to some extent with orders from other parts of the world. Europe nevertheless remains the company’s biggest market. “This is the traditional home of recycling,” explains Manfred Hackl. That said, other regions are catching up: “Asia is making great strides and America is also gaining ground, chiefly with the recycling of production waste. Africa is some way behind in fourth place, but it is here that we will see the sharpest rise in the demand for plastic, and therefore for recycling solutions, in the coming years.”

According to the OECD[1], the global demand for plastic will triple, from 460 million tonnes in 2019 to 1.2 billion tonnes in 2060. If a greater percentage of this demand is to be met by recyclates, expansion of recycling infrastructure will be necessary, as will investment in high-performance recycling technology. Currently, the OECD estimates that in 2060 only 17 per cent of plastics will be recycled.

Technology is ready for plastics recycling

“Contrary to what is often believed, plastics recycling already works amazingly well for many applications,” Hackl says. “The key question for the future is how we can keep more, and more demanding, material flows in the loop while constantly maintaining high quality.”

When input materials vary enormously, robust systems are essential. Filtration, degassing and a thorough understanding of the process are central here. And it is precisely these that are the EREMA Group’s greatest strengths. Says Hackl: “Our recycling systems’ excellent decontamination performance guarantees the quality while their robustness ensures a consistent output. In addition, energy-efficient solutions keep our customers’ operating costs to a minimum.”

Ultimately, the circular economy is achieved when the material’s design, collection, sorting, washing and extrusion are compatible and the recyclate is subsequently used in new products of equal quality. Thanks to the engineering partnership between EREMA and Lindner Washtech, customers receive a complete solution that is fully integrated, from the secondary feedstock to the resulting recyclate. The perfect dovetailing of the processes improves the quality, throughput and cost-efficiency of the entire system.

The EREMA Group is also beginning to focus on new lines of business. In October 2025, the company made an investment in BlockTexx®. The Australian pioneer has developed a process for extracting polyester and cellulose from blended fabrics – an important step towards recycling textiles. The PET fibre industry is three times as big as the PET bottle industry. Currently, only around one per cent of polyester is recycled.

Plastics recycling as part of a modern raw materials strategy

To increase the role of recycling in meeting the rising demand for plastic in future, a set of reliable rules is required that makes investment possible. Regulations such as those for packaging (PPWR) and end-of-life vehicles (ELV) in the European Union are important milestones. “The most important thing, however, is that the rules are clear, reliable and implemented consistently all over Europe,” says Hackl. “If they are not implemented consistently, no one will invest. We need a standardised system to make recyclates more attractive. Only then will recycling be able to establish itself as part of a long-term raw materials strategy.”

Important growth regions like China and India are also beginning to recognise the importance of the circular economy for supplying raw materials and staying competitive. Both countries are expanding their recycling industry with their own regulations and initiatives. The EREMA Group has been active in these markets for around three decades, founding a facility in Shanghai in 2001 and opening EREMA India together with Lindner Washtech in February 2026. The company also has sites in North America, South Africa and Thailand.

With its presence on the international stage and ongoing investments, the EREMA Group is well placed to profit from this growth. “For us, plastics recycling has always been, and remains, an emerging market,” Hackl stresses. “The EREMA Group’s solutions play a crucial role in enabling more sustainable use of plastic and keeping raw materials in the loop.”