Hera Group: Majority Stake in Kronos Polymer Polska

The Italian Hera Group plans to acquire a 70 percent stake in Kronos Polymer Polska through its Polish subsidiary Aliplast Polska. According to a press release, the newly established company will be created through a spin-off from the Polish plastics recycler Kronos Polymer. Subject to customary conditions, the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

Kronos Polymer processes and recycles polyethylene. The acquisition concerns a facility in Gniew, in Poland’s Pomeranian Voivodeship, which was completed at the end of 2022 and has been in operation since the first quarter of 2023. The plant is located around 300 kilometres from Aliplast’s site in Tuszyn.

Advert

The facility has a complete line for sorting, shredding and washing polyethylene waste. Its installed production capacity is 12,000 tonnes per year. According to the companies involved, the acquisition will enable Aliplast to process and regenerate more plastic waste directly in Poland. In particular, this is intended to shorten transport distances and improve the organisation of material flows within the existing site network.

The planned majority acquisition forms part of a broader Hera Group expansion programme focused on high-quality recycled plastics. Together with other projects, it is expected to increase Aliplast’s processing capacity to more than 210,000 tonnes per year, approximately doubling its current level.

Ongoing projects include a rigid plastics recycling plant in Modena and a new recycling facility for low-density polyethylene, or LDPE, in Borgolavezzaro in the Italian province of Novara. With the additional capacity, Aliplast aims to process different plastic fractions more flexibly and strengthen cooperation between the Hera Group’s recycling and production sites.

The investment in Poland is in line with the Hera Group’s business plan through 2029. In addition to expanding production capacity, the plan provides for a stronger international presence and improvements in the quality and traceability of recycled materials. Aliplast already operates facilities in Italy, France, Spain and Poland.

The Group identifies the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR, as an important market factor. It entered into force in February 2025 and will apply directly in EU member states from 12 August 2026. The regulation introduces new requirements for the design, manufacture and disposal of packaging and packaging waste. Among other things, manufacturers, processors and recyclers will face stricter requirements relating to recyclability, recycled content and traceability.

Hera therefore expects demand for high-quality recycled plastics to increase. By expanding its presence in Poland, Aliplast intends to serve this market more locally in the future. According to the company, direct local processing offers particular advantages in terms of logistics, security of supply and access to regional markets.

Several conditions must be met before the transaction can be completed. These include, in particular, the legal spin-off of Kronos Polymer Polska from the existing company and the transfer of the required environmental permits. Under the current timetable, the acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

The Hera Group is one of Italy’s largest multi-utility companies and operates in the environmental, energy and water sectors. The Group employs more than 10,500 people and, according to its own figures, provides at least one service to more than 7.5 million people.

Aliplast has been part of Hera subsidiary Herambiente since 2017. Founded in 1982, the company states that it covers the entire plastics recycling chain, from collection and processing into secondary raw materials through to the manufacture of new products. Its portfolio includes PET and LDPE flakes and granules, PET films, LDPE films, and processed fractions of polypropylene and high-density polyethylene. Its annual production of recycled products currently exceeds 100,000 tonnes.

More information: eng.gruppohera.it, www.aliplastspa.com, kronos-polymer.pl

Hera Group, Bologna, Italy

back to news list