A German-Hungarian Strategic Partnership for Plastic Recycling

German APK AG and Hungarian MOL Group have signed a strategic cooperation agreement in August this year.

As a first step, the Hungarian partner will support the completion of APK’s plant located in Merseburg, which will serve as a pilot for the German company’s solvent-based process called Newcycling. As reported, this technique enables the recovery of high-quality materials from complex multi-layer packaging. The recycling technology can be applied to a broad variety of mixed plastic types and process them into high-quality recyclates.

MOL Group, an integrated international oil and gas company headquartered in Budapest, is taking steps to grow its petrochemicals business and enter knowledge-intensive industries together with strategic partners. “We see a growing demand from our customers for recycled plastics, and at the same time we are also fully committed to the idea of circular economy and sustainability,” Ferenc Horvath, MOL Group’s Executive Vice President for Downstream, is quoted. The company would aim to become a leader in recycling in Central and Eastern Europe. “MOL, as an established polymer player in CEE (Central and Eastern Europe), together with an innovative partner as APK will work on further developing the Newcycling technology and bringing it to our core region where the need and the potential for plastic waste recycling is significant.”

The 2030 strategy of MOL Group includes the expansion of the company’s petrochemicals value chain. It intends to invest around 4.5 billion US-Dollar until the end of the next decade into growth projects. In this context, the company plans to build up its recycling capabilities, “as plastic recycling is the most cost-efficient and environmentally friendly option for a responsible management of plastic waste”. Plastic packaging is one of the key strategic segments defined in MOL’s 2030 Enter Tomorrow Strategy and a sector where both partners recognize a growing demand for recycled materials, the group underlined.

According to the information, the Hungarian group is active in over 30 countries with a dynamic international workforce of 26,000 employees. It operates four refineries and two petrochemicals plants under integrated supply chain management in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia, and owns a network of nearly 2,000 service stations across nine countries in Central and South Eastern Europe. MOL Group is a supplier of polymer products such as polypropylene, low-density and high-density polyethylene.

Photo: APK AG

GR 3/2018