Pekutherm, a company specializing in the recycling of high-quality plastics such as acrylic glass and polycarbonate, has acquired a stake in Grünstoff Kunststoff-Recycling GmbH. The alliance between the two experts in the circular economy will ensure the further expansion of disposal and recycling concepts for thermoplastics.
"The market for raw materials is tight. The plastics processing industry, retail and trade fair construction - all sectors that generate large quantities of plastic waste - are dependent on coherent and easy-to-integrate concepts. At the same time, our cooperation ensures that the plastics processing industry has a reliable supply of high-quality, unmixed recycled raw materials," says Heiko Pfister, Managing Director of Pekutherm. Pekutherm's cooperation with Grünstoff will primarily further expand its specialization in the high-quality materials acrylic glass (PMMA) and polycarbonate. At two production sites, over 50 employees now process plastic waste from PMMA, PC, PETG, PP, PE, PVC and other thermoplastics with a capacity of over 10,000 tons per year.
Two experts under one roof
Pekutherm has been in the plastic recyclate business for more than 30 years - a market that has grown steadily in recent years. With the Ecobox, the company offers an easy way to collect the material directly on site with space-saving transport boxes in the key industries where plastic waste, scraps and old material are generated. "Grünstoff and Pekutherm are a perfect match. We both aim to manufacture our products in such a way that they meet the quality specifications of the primary product, but at the same time conserve scarce resources and significantly improve the carbon footprint. In addition, the use of a recyclate in production saves a significant amount of energy. Our close alliance in purchasing, processing, quality management and sales is therefore a strategic decision for even more sustainability in the plastics industry," explains Robel Goitom, Managing Director of Grünstoff. In particular, the joint logistics for purchasing and the subsequent single-variety processing of the two companies will go hand in hand in future in order to be able to offer recyclate customers optimum delivery conditions. Proximity to customers is also increasing.
International expansion
The Pekutherm site in Geisenheim also offers enormous storage capacity, which can be rented by plastics processors as interim storage for delivery-on-demand. The strategic cooperation resulting from Pekutherm's entry into Grünstoff is also to be further expanded internationally. "It is still the case worldwide that high-quality plastics such as acrylic glass or polycarbonate largely end up in incineration plants or are even simply exported as waste. As a result, our own economy suffers damage and has to purchase raw materials at a high price. Our recyclates meet the highest standards and can be extruded directly as granulate - in a quality that is almost on a par with the primary product," says Heiko Pfister from Pekutherm. The sustainable circular economy for PMMA (acrylic glass, Plexiglas), PC (polycarbonate) and other thermoplastics should therefore generally be an industrial focus. Recycling high-quality thermoplastics makes an active contribution to climate protection and resource efficiency.
