The company’s strategic objectives for 2020 remain focused on anticipating the recycling sector’s evolution, detecting new requirements as they arise, and maintaining the operational flexibility to develop solutions to address them in a short timeframe.
Willi Stadler, CEO of the Stadler Group, stated: “The circular economy is the future, the way to address the main environmental challenges of our century, such as the global waste issue. Awareness around the world that we need to change our lifestyle is growing fast. In this context, the recycling sector is set to grow significantly, also driven by increasingly stringent policies and regulations. At Stadler, we are ready: we have the know-how, the experience and the operational capacity to support the recycling industry as it evolves. The change is already happening, and we are providing solutions to the new requirements as they arise.”
Meet the new demand for specialization and high purity rates of sorting output
The recycling industry is requiring of waste sorting plants high purity levels of the sorted fractions in order to meet their customers’ demand for high-quality recycled end-products that can compete with virgin materials on the market. This evolution is also driving a demand for greater specialization in the sorting processes and the ability to sort multiple materials flexibly.
Stadler has anticipated this evolution, and has already completed different projects that meet these new needs, such as one of the first sorting plants in the world specializing in film: the Integra Plastics plant in Sofia, Bulgaria, with a capacity of 4 tonnes/hour, sorts the fractions into HDPE, PP and LDPE and by colour (transparent, blue and green).
“In our industry, specialization will be the key to success in the coming years,” explains Jürgen Berger, Sales Director. “At Stadler we have the operational flexibility and expertise to develop new solutions to address the demand for specialization and to achieve the highest possible purity rates – and we can provide the answer to new needs fast. This is one of our key strengths and will remain an important focus for us.”
Stadler’s latest project for French recycling company Schroll Group demonstrated its capacity to develop tailored solutions to meet the demand for sorting more fractions and greater operating flexibility. It designed the new sorting facility in the city of Épinal to process 80,000 tonnes of waste per year, allowing for future expansion and the addition of further fractions. It features two independent plants – one for multi-materials and one for hollow material – to provide more flexibility. In this project, Stadler also successfully completed the challenge of delivering on schedule, in just 14 weeks, including start-up of the two lines.
Stadler is quick to identify new needs and provide the answer with a new machine, or optimizing existing ones, changing their positioning or dimensioning. It conducts extensive testing on the proposed solution at its Test Centre or at the customer’s plant until the desired result is achieved.
It is constantly improving its products or extending the range in order to meet these new needs. In 2019, it developed a wider version of its label remover, launched the previous year, having identified a requirement for processing a higher volume of bottles. The new version increased the capacity from 6 tonnes/hour of plastic bottles of the original machine to 9 tonnes/hour. The same year, it improved its expansion hood to meet the latest requirements of the optical sorting market, and the new version is already delivering excellent results in a number of plants.
Enter new markets, helping to stimulate the circular economy
Stadler has seen a growing interest in Latin American markets for developing their recycling industry, as they strive to limit the growth of waste landfill sites and develop their circular economy. It identified a strong interest in Mexico and, having completed a number of projects in the last two years, the company is now planning to establish direct presence through a subsidiary in the coming months to better support customers in this market.
It has also recently completed the most advanced sorting plant for light packaging, plastics, paper and cardboard in Brazil. The Mulitlixo plant in São Paulo, Brazil, is in the final testing stages.
Ready for continued growth
With the recycling sector set to grow fast in the coming years, Stadler is ready to meet the growing demand in terms of capacity as well as complexity. In 2014 and 2016, it invested in the construction of two new production halls in Altshausen and last year it completed the project with the inauguration of the new Heaquarters on the same site, bringing the full team together. It is also investing in a new production hall in Slovenia in order to increase production capacity further.
Stadler’s focus on providing the best answer to its customers’ needs has also led the company to seal a partnership with Krones, the specialist in the washing and decontamination process. Through this alliance, it is now able to offer a turnkey plant for the complete recycling process, from sorting all the way to the final output of new recycled materials.
Claus Maier, second CEO of the Stadler Group concludes: “Our strategic priority is the customer. They are our priority, because, at Stadler we know that our success depends on the success of our customers.”
