With the construction of a new plant in Atlanta (Georgia), Shark Solutions (Svinninge / Denmark; www.shark-solutions.com), a specialist in the recycling of post-consumer PVB interlayers, intends to expand its business activities to include the United States. The new production unit is scheduled to go on stream next year, CEO Jens Holmegård told PIE. The company is also looking for potential sites in Europe. Outside Denmark, it already has a plant in Belgium. In Denmark, Shark Solutions also aims to consolidate its activities at the Svebølle plant and equip it with an additional production line.

To finance the expansion plans, the Danish company has procured fresh capital amounting to EUR 4m. Of this, EUR 1m came from VF Venture, part of the Danish state-run growth fund, Vækstfonden. In addition, Shark Solutions received EUR 3m for the sale of 26.5% of its stake in the Reclay Group (Cologne / Germany; http://reclay-group.com). To extend the cooperation with the German specialist for waste disposal management, Michael Laupper, one of Reclay's managing directors, has been appointed to the Supervisory Board.

Shark Solutions claims to be the only company that can effectively recycle the post-consumer PVB interlayers from windscreens, safety glass and architectural/building glass. The recyclate is marketed as granules (SharkPellets) or powder (SharkPowder). The Danish company sees particularly strong potential in the recycling of windscreens in view of the fact that more than 60m windscreens are replaced every year worldwide, and just as many vehicles are scrapped.

The company from Svinninge was founded in 2005 and currently employs 20 people. No sales figures have been released. In 2008, Shark Solutions sold its European press container activities to focus on the recycling of post-consumer PVB interlayers. In the following year, the Danish company received the Innovations Award from the French conglomerate Saint-Gobain and again a year later the EU Award for green products.