Romanian recycler Green Group (Bucharest; www.green-group-europe.com) is spending EUR 12m to upgrade its operations in Slovakia, adding a new recycling line that will handle 8,000 t/y of PET bottles in Banská Bystrica. When the additional capacity would go into operation, however, remains unclear.

Constantin Damov, Green Group chairman, said, “The new investment is meant to strengthen the presence of Green Tech Slovakia in the region, as it achieves added value through vertical integration of PET recycling operations, up to the production of secondary raw materials. It is a step forward towards achieving a circular economy for plastics in Slovakia.” The move follows an initial investment of EUR 13m in Slovakian company Ekolumi, which Green Group acquired in 2019. The Romanian firm said Ekolumi will now be renamed Green Tech Slovakia, marking the final step in integrating the newly acquired firm in the group’s PET division, Green Tech.

Green Tech Slovakia regards itself as the country’s largest PET bottle processor, handling 40,000 t/y currently, which is 10,000 t/y more than Slovakia produces. The company plans to employ another 50 people by 2023, expanding its existing headcount of 100.

With recycling operations across Romania, Slovakia and Lithuania, Green Tech has a total processing capacity of 150,000 t/y of PET waste. Green Tech’s CEO Alina Genes said its ambition is to become Europe’s largest PET recycler and supplier of recycled products. Given that a deposit return scheme will come into effect in Slovakia in 2022 – grocery stores with a floor area greater than 300 m² will be required to feature return points for cans and PET bottles (see Plasteurope.com of 23.09.2021) – importance of PET recycling is bound to increase.

Green Group, which has invested EUR 170m in the recycling industry to date, has been majority owned by private equity group Abris Capital Partners (Warsaw / Poland; www.abris-capital.com) since July 2016.