Press releases

Work has begun in Modena on the construction of one of the most innovative plants in Europe for rigid plastics recycling. The Hera Group, through its subsidiary Aliplast – a leading company in plastics collection, recycling and regeneration – will create a state-of-the-art plant capable of obtaining high quality recycled polymers with characteristics comparable to those of virgin materials obtained from fossil fuels. The total investment made by the Hera Group amounts to approximately 50 million euro, 7.7 of which will be financed with NRRP funding (National Recovery and Resilience Plan). The facility is expected to be completed in late 2025.

Construction work recently began within a site where a waste-to-energy plant and a wastewater treatment plant managed by the Group are located. The new plant will therefore operate within a context in which industrial synergies oriented towards sustainability can be created.

The project was presented today, with Modena Mayor Gian Carlo Muzzarelli, Hera Group CEO Orazio Iacono and Aliplast CEO Carlo Andriolo present.

A state-of-the-art plant capable of producing 30 thousand tonnes of recycled polymers per year

When fully operational, the new plant will produce up to 30 thousand tonnes of high-quality recycled polymers annualy from rigid plastic waste, which is among the most difficult to successfully recycle, mainly coming from the consumer electronics and automotive sectors.
These polymers, while still being recycled, will be pure enough to be reused in the same original sectors, with a quality similar to the one shown by virgin materials. The method used by Aliplast, in fact, involves upcycling, a kind of regeneration that improves the quality of the initial polymer and thus achieves high quality characteristics. In this way, the plastics leaving the plant will meet needs that until present have been covered almost exclusively by virgin raw materials, and even sectors with a significant environmental impact will be able to increase their sustainability. Suffice it to say that the quantity of plastic recycled in one year by the plant when fully operational will save environmental emissions amounting to approximately 30,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
This new plastics recycling plant was designed based on the engineering and technological expertise of NextChem, the Maire Group’s subsidiary for sustainable technology solutions.

A production process based on circular resources
The new facility will be part of an already consolidated Hera Group plant complex and will thus be able to exploit the potential of different business lines. In particular, it will be powered by the electricity produced by the nearby waste-to-energy plant, while the production process will use the water coming out of the purification plant and later reinject it into the same plant, thus closing a virtuous circle.
Lastly, the rigid plastics recycling plant will guarantee high standards of safety and innovation, with automation and highly digitised processes, which will also maximise energy efficiency. The plastics processed will also be zero-kilometre, since the material processed in the plant will be selected mainly from the waste that the Hera Group already processes in its own sorting and recovery lines, through Herambiente, or by involving the local production fabric.

The Hera Group’s path to work towards the circular economy and decarbonisation
This new rigid plastics recycling plant falls within the path that the Hera Group has been pursuing for some time to promote the circular economy and decarbonisation. In its 2023-2027 business plan as well, the Hera Group confirmed its commitment to supporting the ecological transition of the areas it serves, with initiatives intended for residents, public administrations and industrial customers, based on its extensive set of plants and the know-how it has acquired in various business sectors. In particular, the Group has earmarked 1.7 billion euro to feed projects dedicated to the circular economy and the regeneration of resources, equivalent to 39% of its total investment plan, which amounts to 4.4 billion euro.
Moreover, thanks to the development of new state-of-the-art plants such as this one in Modena, the Group aims to further consolidate its position in the waste management area, a sector in which subsidiary Aliplast, already a national market leader in the high quality recycling of PET (polyethylene terephthalate recycled in granules and flakes) and LDPE (low density polyethylene recycled in granules) polymers, aims to play a key role in recycling of rigid plastics as well.

"We are proud to present this project that, in addition to strengthening our set of plant, will give a further boost to the important contribution that Hera Group has been making to the Italian recycling industry for years. In the current context, a higher demand is coming from companies for increasingly sustainable solutions for waste treatment and recovery, guaranteeing that the cycle is closed with a view to the circular economy," explains Hera Group CEO Orazio Iacono. " There is therefore a need for new-generation plant capacity nationwide, and we are responding to this need with concrete and innovative projects. In particular, this plant will be a driving force in reaching resource circularity goals, especially in sectors such as the consumer electronics and automotive industries, with the additional aim of promoting increasingly circular and short Italian supply chains. This project is part of the initiatives outlined in the Business Plan to respond to the 2030 goals in terms of circular economy and decarbonization and is an integral part of our path aimed at accompanying the communities served toward the green transition, consistent with our corporate purpose." 

"With this project, we give further concreteness to the theme of sustainability and ecological transition that is characterizing our commitment to urban and environmental choices," emphasizes the Mayor of Modena, Gian Carlo Muzzarelli. "We are providing the territory with new employment opportunities and a tool to support the circular economy. It is a project that, along with the Hydrogen Valley project that includes Hera’s partnership, highlights how the resources of the PNRR can contribute to achieving the ecological transition, which is also part of the objectives of the Municipality's direct intervention program with the Next Generation Modena plan, which continues to follow the roadmap."