News

Aliplast inaugurates R3GID in Modena, the new rigid plastics recycling plant

---

20 October 2026

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), Aliplast 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.

“R3GID is a clear example of how Italy can anticipate the challenges posed by new European regulations, from the PPWR to the ELV Regulation, and turn them into opportunities for industrial growth,” said Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Minister of the Environment and Energy Security. “This plant combines Italian technology, an entirely Italian supply chain and a certified, traceable product with quality comparable to virgin raw materials. Producing secondary raw materials locally means strengthening the country’s competitiveness, reducing dependence on foreign markets and making our supply chains more secure, even in the face of geopolitical tensions and price volatility. Facilities such as this benefit the country as a whole.”

“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 tonnes². 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.”

Aliplast 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 circular economy on a single site

R3GID is located at Hera Group’s industrial hub on Via Cavazza in Modena, which already houses a waste-to-energy plant and a wastewater treatment plant. These existing facilities have enabled the creation of a circular system with Aliplast’s new plant: treated water supplies the rigid plastics recycling process before returning to the wastewater treatment plant, while electricity generated by the waste-to-energy plant powers the new business activities.

This reduces energy costs, which, even before the energy crisis, accounted for around 30% of production costs in Italy’s recycling sector, excluding raw materials. The plant also avoids approximately 30,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions compared with production from virgin plastics, on a like-for-like production cycle basis³.

Aliplast doubles its capacity

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.

Innovation combining sustainability and competitiveness

This morning’s inauguration of Aliplast’s Modena plant provided an opportunity to discuss the future of plastics recycling, focusing on innovation and sustainability. Following institutional addresses by Massimo Mezzetti, Mayor of Modena, Michele de Pascale, President of the Emilia-Romagna Region, and Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Hera Group CEO Orazio Iacono outlined the plant’s role within the Group’s strategy. Andrea Ramonda, CEO of Herambiente, presented R3GID’s key features, while Michele Petrone, CEO of Aliplast, opened the morning’s proceedings.

The event continued with a roundtable moderated by Francesca Gambarini, a journalist at L’Economia, Corriere della Sera, bringing together representatives from industry and research: Paolo Accastello, Stellantis Manufacturing – Vehicle Area Manager Italy & Poland; Luigi De Nardo, Head of the “Giulio Natta” Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano; Fabrizio Di Amato, Chairman and Founder of MAIRE Group; Antonino Furfari, Managing Director of Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE); Paolo Goi, Global Innovation, Research & Quality Director at Davines; Maurizio Mezzelani, Head of R&D at Fratelli Guzzini; and Simone Targetti Ferri, Sustainability Officer at L’Oréal Italia. Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the morning concluded with a guided tour of the plant.

news list