Germany’s Otto Krahn Group (Hamburg; www.ottokrahn.group) is integrating its recycling subsidiary Wipag (Hamburg; www.wipag.com) in compounding unit Mocom (Hamburg; www.mocom.eu). “This is a merger of two companies operating in a similar market”, Jens Kaatze said when speaking to Plasteurope.com at the Fakuma plastics fair (www.fakuma-messe.de).

The Wipag CEO also took over as head of Mocom in May 2023. Following the merger, both companies will operate under the name Mocom.

Mocom on its own has five plants worldwide, three in Germany located in Hamburg, Zülpich (near Cologne), and Obernburg, and one each in Duncan, South Carolina, USA, and Changshu, Jiangsu, China. The company employs 750.

Wipag currently operates two domestic recycling facilities in Gardelegen and Neuburg an der Donau with a total of some 100 employees.

Kaatze said plans are to shutter Mocom and Wipag activities in Obernburg and Neuburg in the course of the merger. The closure and other measures to leverage synergy effects are expected to affect around 100 staff.

The firm said it plams to concentrate its recycling activities in Gardelegen, where a new building is under construction that will host production lines for carbon fibre-reinforced plastics with a recyclate component. Completion is scheduled for spring 2024.

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“We will start with a single extrusion line and the equipment needed to process the carbon fibres from post-industrial waste for compounding”, Kaatze said. “The hall is dimensioned in such a way that it can accommodate further extrusion lines.” The company is aiming to produce over 3,000 t/y of carbon fibre-reinforced plastics with a recyclate component at the site from 2024.

The combined Mocom/Wipag company will have three locations in Germany, in Hamburg, Zülpich, and Gardelegen, in addition to the overseas plants in the US and China.

Kaatze puts the current compounding capacity at a total of 80,000 t/y, with recyclate capacity at around 10,000 t/y. Mocom will continue purchasing recyclate from external partners in order to cover its own requirements.

The aim is to also offer a variant with a sustainability aspect for each of the products marketed. The focus will mainly be on the company’s Eco portfolio and compounds for use in lightweight applications.

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Otto Krahn claims that Mocom will in future generate roughly a quarter of the group’s revenue; in 2022, overall sales were some EUR 1.7 bn.