Following the majority takeover by investor Blackstone (New York, New York / USA; www.blackstone.com) in April 2019 (see Plasteurope.com of 29.04.2019), the world market leader for laminate tubes Essel Propack (Mumbai, Maharashtra / India; www.esselgroup.com) has been operating under the name EPL (Mumbai, Maharashtra; www.eplglobal.com) since December 2020. The new name also applies for the German subsidiary founded in Dresden in 1999, which is now known as EPL Deutschland (Dresden; www.epldeutschland.de).

Since the German plant was opened in October 2000, more than EUR 30m has been invested in tube systems and printing technology in Dresden, explains Matthias Lütkemeier, MD of EPL Deutschland. “Today, EPL Deutschland, with its 180 employees, produces more than 1m tubes every day and is the European market leader for decorated laminate tubes.”

The company processes the classic plastic barrier laminates (PBL) and aluminium barrier laminates (ABL), besides the laminates it has developed in-house. The latter are marketed under the name “Platina” and are said to be fully recyclable in the HDPE stream (see Plasteurope.com of 02.12.2019). The Dresden plant supplies to filling companies in the cosmetics, oral hygiene, food, pharmaceutical and household sectors.

EPL Global is one of the world’s leading packaging manufacturers, focusing on laminate and plastic tubes, with more than 20 plants in 12 countries. Sales of INR 27.7 bn (EUR 315m) were generated by the manufacturer in the previous financial year.