Hera Group inaugurates R3GID in Modena, the new rigid plastics recycling plant

The facility can process up to 30,000 tonnes of polymers per year and produce flakes of a quality comparable to that of virgin raw material. €48.8 million has been invested, including €7.7 million from Italy’s NRRP funds, to develop a state-of-the-art facility designed to anticipate the growing demand for secondary raw materials driven by recent EU regulations.

Aliplast, a Hera Group subsidiary, inaugurated its rigid plastics recycling plant in Modena. The official opening of R3GID (Recover Recycle Regenerate Plastic), attended by Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Italy’s Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, makes Hera one of the first multiutilities in Europe to operate a facility equipped to meet the growing demand for recycled plastics expected in the short to medium term under new EU regulations, including the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and the End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) Regulation.

Construction of Aliplast’s recycling plant began in 2024. Already operational for several months, the facility will employ 80 people at full capacity. It is among the most innovative plants in its sector in Europe and can process up to 30,000 tonnes of high-quality recycled polymers annually, with properties comparable to virgin materials derived from fossil feedstocks and a certified purity level of over 99%⁽¹⁾.

With an investment totalling €48.8 million, including €7.7 million in direct funding from Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Hera Group is providing Italian industry with a facility capable of recycling rigid plastic waste from both municipal and industrial sources. This includes sectors such as automotive, cosmetics, home and personal care, consumer electronics and furniture, which generate materials that are generally not recyclable and would therefore be sent for energy recovery or to landfill. At the Modena plant, Aliplast instead regenerates this waste into high-quality, traceable and certified polymers produced in Italy. These can be reused by the same industries to manufacture a wide range of products, including plastic components for televisions, computers and household appliances, make-up containers, tanks and bumpers, and garden furniture. 

“Europe faces a structural gap in recycling: capacity is stagnant or declining, while new regulations will increase demand for recycled plastics with quality equivalent to virgin polymers,” said Orazio Iacono, Chief Executive Officer of Hera Group. “The figures speak for themselves. Europe currently has plastics recycling capacity of 13.5 million tonnes, but only 3.5 million tonnes for rigid plastics, including approximately 440,000 tonnes⁽²⁾. By 2040, an additional 5.7 million tonnes2 of recycled rigid plastics will be needed: a substantial gap. R3GID is our response as a first mover. It provides Italian manufacturers with high-quality, locally produced materials, reducing import costs and ensuring security of supply. There is also a benefit for the country: Italy pays the European Union around €800 million each year in Plastic Tax on non-recycled plastic packaging, while the Modena plant alone could generate savings of approximately €24 million if its entire output were used for packaging.”

Hera Group developed the plant using best available technologies. Nextchem, a Maire Group company, participated in the project as a technology partner, providing its proprietary NX Replast™ technology, an advanced solution for plastics upcycling. More broadly, the plant’s equipment and technologies enable the production of high-purity recycled polymers and compounds designed to replace virgin fossil-based materials in high-value-added applications. They also enable the development of tailor-made materials to meet specific functional, mechanical, aesthetic and regulatory requirements, expanding the potential uses of recycled plastics even in the most demanding market segments.

The Modena plant, the expansion of the facility in Borgolavezzaro (Novara) dedicated to low-density polyethylene (LDPE) recycling, and the acquisition of a 70% stake in Kronos Polymer Polska, also an LDPE specialist and expected to complete by the end of 2026, will enable Aliplast to double its recycling capacity and increase its operational flexibility. Annual capacity for high-quality secondary plastic raw materials will exceed 210,000 tonnes, with total production capacity reaching 255,000 tonnes per year. The Modena investment forms part of the €2 billion allocated to the circular economy under the Group’s 2025–2029 Business Plan, out of total planned investment of €5.5 billion.

⁽¹⁾ Machinery specifications and performance tests carried out by Aliplast.
⁽²⁾ Report by Plastics Recyclers Europe & ICIS Independent Commodity Intelligence Services, HDPE & PP Rigids Market in Europe – State of Play (2023).

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