In a deal the financial details of which were not disclosed, Veolia (Paris / France; www.veolia.com) has acquired Dutch PP recyclate specialist AKG Kunststof Groep (Vroomshoop; www.akg.nl). Antoine Frérot, the French group’s CEO, said the purchase “is the next natural step for Veolia in its strategic transformation and development.” AKG is to become one of Veolia’s centres of expertise, specialised on PP recycling, compounding and manufacturing. The Vroomshoop facility hosts a state-of-the-art laboratory and will become the cornerstone for the expansion of Veolia’s European platforms for recyclate, the group said. Private equity group Wadinko (Zwolle / The Netherlands; www.wadinko.nl) will retain a minority share in AKG and have a seat on its supervisory board.

AKG processes commercial, industrial and household waste or PP production scrap directly sourced from manufacturers. About 90% of the company’s input comes from cost-consumer waste. The recyclate it produces – AKG has annual output of about 37,000 t – is mostly used in the horticultural, infrastructure, electronic appliances, automotive and packaging sectors. The Dutch group’s 53 employees posted revenues of EUR 34m in 2014.

Veolia’s plastics recycling activities have to date mostly focused on PET. Its Veolia Umweltservice PET Recycling (Hamburg / Germany; www.pet.veolia-umweltservice.de) subsidiary operates three PET bottle recycling plants in Europe, located in Rostock / Germany, Frauenfeld / Switzerland and Norrköping / Sweden.