MBA Polymers adding e-waste recycling plant in Germany 

US recycled plastics specialist MBA Polymers Inc. is expanding its presence in Europe with a new recycling plant for electrical and electronic equipment waste (WEEE) in Mauna, Germany.
 
The company said it acquired in July a site which will be operated by a new subsidiary, MBA Polymers Germany GmbH, and employ 20 people in the initial stage.
 
Marking MBA’s fifth recycling facility globally, the new plant is scheduled to start operation in January 2020 and will process 17,500 tonnes of WEEE in Mauna annually.
 
Spanning an area of 16,000 square metres, of which 5,500 square metres will be dedicated to production, the “high-tech plant” will extract postconsumer plastics, including ABS, HIPS, PP and PC/ABS, from WEEE.
 
The material will then be further separated and processed into high-quality plastics using “complex and inhouse developed processes.”
 
The new plant, according to MBA, will tap into the growing quantities of WEEE in Germany and Europe,  and is aimed at addressing global demand for recycled plastics.
 
MBA Polymers said it aims to further expand its production activities in Germany, but did not elaborate further.
 
Founded in California in 1997, MBA Polymers specialises in the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment waste and shredder residues from end-of-life cars.
 
The company has developed patented technologies in which the input material is separated and processed to high-quality plastics.
 
Including the new plant in Germany, MBA Polymers has five recycling plants with a total processing capacity of 170 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa), of which over 130ktpa are in Europe.