With suitable investors, successful ISO certifications and the first few supply agreements concluded, Germany’s APK (Merseburg; www.apk.group) now plans to go ahead with the construction of a large plant for chemical recycling. The company says construction will commence in 2024. 

Using the solvent-based Newcycling technology, the facility is to obtain LDPE recyclate from mixed waste of flexible plastic packaging. On board as investors are US polyolefins producer LyondellBasell (LYB, Houston, Texas; www.lyondellbasell.com) and Lego owner Kirkbi (Billund, Denmark; www.kirkbi.com), who have both acquired minority stakes in APK. In addition, there are a number of other unnamed investors. 

APK described the certification according to ISO standard 9001 quality management by TÜV Rheinland as a milestone for the construction project. As a result, said a spokesperson from Merseburg, the company now has the certifications for the ISO 9001 quality management systems, the ISO 14001 environment management systems, and the ISO 50001 energy management systems. 

It has also already found the first buyers for the produced recyclate material. Recycled LDPE was not only in increasing demand in the packaging market because of the mounting sustainability initiatives, said APK, but in view of the present EU plans for the recyclability of vehicles and quotas for the use of recyclate, interest in the automotive industry was also increasing rapidly. 

At its headquarters in Merseburg, APK currently operates a Newcycling plant with an input capacity of 20,000 t/y. It produces LDPE recyclate under the Mersalen brand name and polyamide recyclate under the Mersamid name. Since 2022, APK also has a pilot plant in Frankfurt-Höchst. Its total workforce number is around 200.