Recycling machinery company Erema Group made more than 200 extruders during the company's most recent financial year, helping drive a 17 percent increase in sales.
The Ansfelden, Austria-based company provided an update on company operations, which posted sales of 295 million euros ($306 million) and saw the number of employees increase to more than 840 during the 2021-2022 financial year.
"This past financial year, we again set several milestones with growth powered by our technology. We are very proud of this, because the prevailing market conditions were once again very challenging due to [COVID-19], cost increases for energy and logistics, and interruptions to the supply chain," CEO Manfred Hackl said in a statement.
The company manufactured 220 extruders in Ansfelden for customers around the word. Production, including "individual components and modules such as filter systems and ReFresher anti-odor technology" increased the number to around 320 companies buying from Erema.
Another 53 extruders from the company's Plasmac srl Italian subsidiary also were build.
Annual capacity for all extrusions systems delivered during the fiscal year totaled 1.34 million metric tons (1.472 million tons), the company said.
Demand for used equipment was also strong during the financial year. A factor driving interest in used equipment, sold through the company's UMAC subsidiary, include customers wanting machinery on shorter notice than new equipment delivery times, the company said.
Erema said there is a growing trend towards construction of larger recycling plants for both PET and polyolefins.
"For example, the first Vacurema Basic 2628 T machine with an annual capacity of up to 40,000 tonnes was recently commissioned at a customer's site in Brazil," the company said. Vacurema is a bottle-to-bottle recycling system.
"The move up to this scale of recycling machines is also clear proof of how much innovative power and know-how there is in our group of companies and the synergy effects this creates," Hackl said.
Erema also said the company's program to modernize and expand operations continued during the latest financial year.
This work included "expansion and construction" of a dedicated machine demonstration center for the Plasmac Milan. Plasmac makes machinery for in-house industrial plastic recycling.
"The fact that plastics recycling is evolving so quickly from a niche to a must-have for the whole industry is a major challenge for the plastics industry. At the same time, however, it is a huge opportunity to play an active role in shaping the transformation to a climate-neutral, resource-efficient and competitive economy," Erema said in a statement.