Aliplast opens new rigid plastics recycling plant in Modena

Aliplast officially opened its new “R3gid” rigid plastics recycling plant in Modena, Italy, on October 20, 2026. The Herambiente subsidiary, part of the Hera Group, invested EUR 48.8 million in the facility, including EUR 7.7 million in funding from Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The plant is designed to process up to 30,000 tonnes of rigid plastic waste per year. Construction started in 2024, and the facility had already been operating for several months before the official opening. Once fully operational, the site is expected to employ around 80 people.

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Mechanical recycling of HDPE and PP
The plant processes rigid plastic waste from municipal and industrial waste streams, primarily high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to Aliplast, the recycled polymers are targeted at applications in the automotive, cosmetics and personal care, household goods, consumer electronics and furniture sectors. End uses include appliance housings, cosmetics packaging, automotive fuel tanks, bumpers and outdoor furniture.

Technology partner Nextchem, part of the Maire Group, is supplying its “Nx Replast” process, combining mechanical recycling with compounding. The technology is designed to produce recycled compounds with mechanical, functional and aesthetic properties tailored to specific end-use requirements.

Aliplast says the resulting materials achieve purity levels above 99% and performance comparable with virgin fossil-based polymers. The stated purity level is based on equipment data and company performance testing.

Integrated energy and water supply
The plant is located at the Hera Group’s industrial site on Via Cavazza in Modena. Electricity is supplied by the adjacent waste-to-energy plant, while reclaimed water comes from the neighboring wastewater treatment plant.

Following use in the recycling process, the water is returned to the wastewater treatment system. Aliplast expects the integrated infrastructure to help reduce energy costs.

The company estimates that the plant could avoid around 30,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions per year compared with production based on virgin polymers under a comparable production scenario. The figure is a project estimate and is currently being updated as part of a new life-cycle assessment.

Recycling capacity set to more than double
The Modena facility forms part of a broader expansion of Aliplast’s plastics recycling activities. Further projects include the expansion of its LDPE recycling site in Borgolavezzaro near Novara and the planned acquisition of a 70% stake in Kronos Polymer Polska. Completion of the transaction is expected by the end of 2026.

With these projects, Aliplast aims to more than double its recycling capacity to over 210,000 tonnes of recycled plastics per year. Total production capacity is expected to reach 255,000 tonnes annually.

The company is expanding in anticipation of rising demand for recycled polymers, driven in particular by European recycled-content and circularity requirements for packaging and end-of-life vehicles.

More information: www.aliplastspa.com, www.gruppohera.it

Aliplast S.p.A., Ospedaletto d'Istrana (Province Treviso), Italy

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