The Slovenian Minister for Education, Science and Sport, Maja Makovec Brenčič (left) and Axel Schweitzer, chairman of the board for ALBA Group, at the grand opening event. At the far left is Manica Ulcnik-Krump, manager of research and development for Recycled-Resource at Interseroh. Photo courtesy of Alba Group.
A research and development facility that recently opened in Europe aims to transform reclaimed plastics into higher-value applications.
Plastics recycling company Interseroh opened what it calls its Competence Centre for Recycled Plastics in northeastern Slovenia, a small central European country tucked between Austria, Croatia, Italy and Hungary. Interseroh is a division of German environmental services company Alba Group.
The facility includes five laboratories with cutting-edge processing and analytical equipment, according to The Slovenia Times. The aim is to boost the value of recycled plastics. After sorting, the company uses re-compounding and additives to boost the quality of recycled pellets to meet customer specifications.
Interseroh’s products include Recythen, suited for technical items, films or pipes, and Procyclen, an upgraded version of Recythen that the company says has properties on par with virgin resin and can be used in blow molding applications. Procyclen is available as 100 percent post-consumer HDPE, PE and PS, and the re-compounding process can be used on other plastics, including ABS.
Feedstock comes from post-consumer packaging collected from households by Alba Group.
The new facility, located outside Maribor, Slovenia, is the company’s first facility combining plastics recycling research and development activities, according to an Alba Group press release.
“At our new location we can service all of our customers’ requirements surrounding the production of modern recycling plastics ourselves,” Manica Ulcnik-Krump, manager of research and development for Recycled-Resource at Interseroh, stated in the release. “This allows us to achieve a greater degree of flexibility and independence in product manufacturing, while for the customers, the periods of development are significantly reduced.”
Its location allows the company to easily serve the German and Eastern European markets, she added.