KRONES RECYCLING GMBH

Introduction

Krones Recycling GmbH is a German plastics-recycling company headquartered in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein. Established as an independent subsidiary of Krones AG on 1 July 2024, it specializes in equipment, process technology, and turnkey systems for recycling post-consumer and post-industrial plastics. The company forms part of the broader Krones Group, whose activities extend across beverage and liquid-food processing, filling, packaging, intralogistics, digitalization, and container-recycling systems.

Krones Recycling focuses on recovering plastics—including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS)—and returning them to industrial value chains. Its portfolio covers sorting, shredding, washing, drying, decontamination, and related plant integration. Systems may be supplied as individual modules, upgrades for existing facilities, or complete turnkey recycling plants.

The company occupies a specialized position within the plastics-equipment industry. Rather than producing polymers or recycled resin itself as a commodity manufacturer, it supplies the machinery and process expertise required to convert discarded plastic into flakes or other recyclates suitable for further processing. Its activities reflect the growing integration of packaging-equipment suppliers with circular-economy infrastructure.

History and Development

Krones had worked with plastics for more than three decades through the manufacture of beverage containers, packaging machinery, and related production systems. This experience provided a technological basis for entering plastics recycling, particularly the recovery of PET bottles and other packaging materials.

Key development milestones include:

• Early 2000s: Krones began expanding from plastics-processing and packaging technologies into dedicated plastics-recycling activities.
• Development of integrated recycling solutions: The company established capabilities covering preparation, sorting, washing, drying, decontamination, and material-quality control rather than limiting its role to a single machine category.
• 1 July 2024: Krones transferred its plastics-recycling division into the independent legal entity Krones Recycling GmbH, intended to give the business greater operational focus and flexibility in the expanding recycling-equipment market.
• 2024 onward: The newly independent company continued to operate within the Krones Group while developing recycling technologies and customer trials through its Recycling Technology Center.

The formation of a dedicated subsidiary mirrors a wider industry trend in which engineering groups separate recycling activities from conventional packaging-machine operations. This structure can allow greater concentration on feedstock variability, regulatory requirements, recycled-material quality, and specialized plant economics.

Business Operations and Segments

Krones Recycling operates as a plastics-recycling technology and plant-engineering business. Its activities can be divided into four closely connected areas:

The company serves customers that process collected packaging, production scrap, commercial waste, and other plastic feedstocks. Its systems are designed to accommodate differing contamination levels, material mixes, moisture content, color distributions, and polymer properties.

Krones Recycling also benefits from its relationship with Krones AG. The parent group supplies technologies across beverage production, filling, packaging, logistics, and digital plant management, enabling potential links between container manufacture, filling operations, collection systems, and recycling infrastructure.

Products and Technologies

Material preparation

Recycling lines generally begin with preparation steps that make incoming material suitable for mechanical processing. Krones Recycling provides equipment and process modules for:

• Bale opening and material feeding
• Sorting by polymer type, color, shape, or contamination
• Shredding and size reduction
• Separation of foreign materials
• Washing and friction-based cleaning
• Drying and moisture reduction
• Decontamination
• Flake handling and storage

The process configuration depends on the feedstock. A relatively clean PET bottle stream requires a different treatment sequence from mixed rigid plastics, multilayer packaging, flexible films, or heavily contaminated post-consumer waste.

PET recycling

PET recycling is a central application area because beverage bottles and food containers can be collected in relatively identifiable streams. The process may include bale opening, pre-sorting, label and cap separation, shredding, hot or cold washing, rinsing, drying, and flake sorting.

Krones Recycling also promotes systems for PET trays and other PET articles. Its MetaPure technology family is associated with PET recycling and can be configured for applications requiring controlled washing, material separation, and high-quality flake production.

Recovered PET flakes can be used in the manufacture of:

• New bottles and preforms
• Packaging sheet
• Thermoformed products
• Fibers and filament
• Strapping and other semi-finished products

Where regulatory and process conditions are satisfied, recycled PET may be further treated for applications requiring food-contact quality. Food-grade suitability depends on the complete recycling process, feedstock control, decontamination performance, and approval by the relevant regulatory authority.

Polyolefin recycling

The company also supplies solutions for PE and PP recycling. These materials are widely used in bottles, closures, containers, crates, films, household products, and industrial packaging.

Polyolefin recycling presents distinct technical challenges:

• PE and PP frequently occur in mixed product streams.
• Films can wrap around rotating equipment or obstruct material flow.
• Labels, adhesives, oils, pigments, and organic residues can affect recyclate quality.
• Polymer density and melt behavior complicate separation and downstream processing.

Appropriate systems may therefore combine sorting, size reduction, intensive washing, drying, and controlled separation. Recycled polyolefins can be used in containers, household goods, pipes, construction products, films, and industrial components, subject to the quality of the input stream and the required end-use specification.

Flexible-plastics recycling

Flexible packaging and films require specialized handling because they have high surface area, low bulk density, and a tendency to retain moisture and contaminants. Krones Recycling has presented adapted washing and drying approaches for flexible materials such as linear low-density polyethylene, with the objective of stabilizing processing and improving material recovery.

The technical design of a flexible-plastics line may involve:

• Controlled feeding to prevent bridging and blockages
• Specialized shredding or agglomeration
• High-efficiency washing
• Water separation and mechanical drying
• Removal of labels, organic contamination, and fines
• Process controls for consistent throughput

Modular and turnkey configurations

Krones Recycling supplies both individual machines and complete plants. Modular equipment can be incorporated into new systems or installed as part of an upgrade to an existing line. Turnkey projects may include process design, equipment integration, commissioning, and technical support.

This modular approach is important for recyclers facing gradual capacity expansion, changing feedstock contracts, or new regulatory requirements. It also allows operators to replace bottleneck equipment without reconstructing an entire facility.

Applications and End Markets

The company’s systems support recycling operations serving several major sectors:

• Beverage packaging: PET bottles, caps, labels, and related packaging materials
• Food and household packaging: Rigid containers, trays, tubs, and closures
• Industrial packaging: Transport packaging, drums, containers, and production scrap
• Flexible packaging: Films and flexible PE-based materials
• Consumer goods: Mixed rigid plastics from household and commercial waste
• Textiles and fibers: Recycled PET flakes used as feedstock for fiber production
• Construction and durable goods: Recycled polyolefins and other plastics used in non-food applications

The commercial value of a recycling plant depends not only on nominal throughput but also on recyclate purity, yield, energy consumption, water use, labor requirements, and the market price of recovered polymers. Consequently, equipment suppliers compete through complete process performance rather than through machine capacity alone.

Global Presence and Market Position

Krones Recycling is based in Germany and operates within Krones AG, a multinational engineering group with more than 100 subsidiaries and branch offices worldwide. Krones reported approximately 20,000 employees and 2024 sales of €5.293 billion at group level; around 90 percent of group revenue was generated outside Germany. These figures describe Krones AG and its consolidated group, not Krones Recycling GmbH as a separately reported business.

The group maintains commercial and operational activities in China, including sales offices and manufacturing or technical sites. This infrastructure is relevant to Krones Recycling because China is a major plastics-processing and packaging market and an important center for recycling-equipment demand.

Krones Recycling’s market position is based on:

• Integration with a large beverage and packaging-equipment group
• Experience with PET containers and high-throughput production lines
• Capability to supply both stand-alone modules and complete recycling plants
• Access to international service, engineering, and sales networks
• Technical testing and customer-specific process development

The company competes in a field that includes specialized washing-line manufacturers, sorting-equipment suppliers, extrusion and pelletizing companies, and engineering contractors. Its differentiation lies primarily in combining recycling-process technology with broader packaging and beverage-industry systems knowledge.

Research and Development

Krones Recycling conducts testing and development work through its Recycling Technology Center. The center is used for material analysis, customer trials, process validation, and the investigation of new recycling applications.

Research priorities in plastics recycling commonly include:

• Improving contaminant removal
• Increasing polymer yield
• Reducing water and energy consumption
• Processing more variable post-consumer feedstocks
• Improving flake color and purity
• Expanding the range of recyclable flexible materials
• Supporting higher recycled content in new packaging
• Adapting systems to food-contact and other demanding applications

The testing function is particularly significant because recycling performance depends heavily on the composition of the input material. Laboratory or pilot-scale trials can help determine whether a proposed line will achieve the required purity, moisture content, odor profile, and material yield before a full-scale investment is made.

Sustainability and Environmental Initiatives

Krones Recycling frames its business around the transformation of plastic waste into secondary raw material and the development of a circular plastics economy. Its environmental contribution is principally indirect: the company supplies technologies that enable recyclers to recover material that might otherwise be landfilled, incinerated, or lost through low-value applications.

Potential environmental benefits of effective mechanical recycling include:

• Reduced demand for virgin polymer
• Lower dependence on fossil-based feedstocks
• Diversion of suitable plastic waste from disposal
• Support for recycled-content requirements
• Greater circularity in PET and polyolefin packaging systems

These benefits depend on collection quality, transport distances, plant energy sources, water management, recyclate yield, and the final application of the recovered material. Mechanical recycling can also generate wastewater, rejects, labels, fines, and other residual streams requiring appropriate treatment or disposal.

Krones has stated an objective of returning at least 30 percent of plastic placed on the market through Krones systems to the material cycle as recycled resource. This is a corporate target rather than a verified industry-wide recovery rate, and its achievement depends on collection systems, customer participation, regulatory conditions, and the availability of suitable recycling capacity.

Financial Performance and Economic Impact

Krones Recycling GmbH is a specialized subsidiary within the Krones Group. Publicly reported group financial figures provide the clearest view of the parent organization: Krones AG recorded 2024 sales of €5.293 billion, while the recycling subsidiary is not presented as a separately reported financial segment in the cited group overview.

The company contributes to the recycling economy through capital equipment, engineering services, plant construction, technical employment, and support for downstream recyclate production. Its economic significance is connected to several industry dynamics:

• Rising demand for recycled-content materials
• Packaging regulations requiring greater recoverability or recycled content
• Volatility in virgin-polymer and recycled-polymer prices
• Investment in collection and sorting infrastructure
• Pressure on brand owners to demonstrate progress toward circularity
• Need to modernize older recycling plants for higher quality and efficiency

Recycling projects remain sensitive to economic conditions. A plant can face weak profitability when virgin-polymer prices fall, contamination rates rise, energy costs increase, or recycled material lacks a stable premium. Equipment suppliers therefore increasingly address operating costs, process flexibility, maintenance, and product-quality consistency alongside initial plant capacity.

Quality Management and Certifications

Krones Recycling designs systems for applications in which polymer purity, contaminant removal, moisture control, and traceability are important. Recyclate intended for demanding applications, especially food-contact packaging, must comply with the relevant regulatory framework and undergo suitable validation.

The quality of output material is influenced by:

• Feedstock composition and collection method
• Sorting accuracy
• Washing chemistry and temperature
• Rinsing and drying performance
• Decontamination design
• Residence time and process control
• Storage and handling after flake production

Recyclate may be processed to quality levels suitable for food-contact, packaging, fiber, film, or durable applications, depending on the material and regulatory approvals. Food-grade status is not an automatic consequence of installing a particular machine; it requires an appropriately designed and validated process, controlled input materials, and compliance with applicable authorities such as the European Food Safety Authority or the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Innovations and Future Outlook

Krones Recycling is positioned to benefit from the continuing industrialization of plastics recycling. Several developments are likely to shape its future activities:

• Higher-quality recycled content: Brand owners and packaging producers increasingly require recyclate with stable color, purity, odor, and mechanical properties.
• More difficult feedstocks: Recycling systems will need to handle mixed, lightweight, flexible, and contaminated materials with less manual intervention.
• Greater water and energy efficiency: Plant operators face pressure to reduce resource consumption while maintaining throughput.
• Digital process control: Sensors, automated sorting, data analytics, and predictive maintenance can improve process stability and equipment utilization.
• Plant modernization: Existing recycling lines may require upgrades to meet new quality standards or process changing feedstocks.
• Closer integration with packaging systems: Krones’ position across beverage production, filling, packaging, and recycling provides opportunities for more connected circular-economy solutions.
• Regional recycling capacity: Expanding collection and processing infrastructure in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and other markets may create demand for localized engineering and service support.

The company’s principal challenge is that recycling economics depend on the entire value chain. Improved machinery alone cannot resolve insufficient collection, poor source separation, unstable recyclate demand, or inadequate policy incentives. Long-term growth will therefore depend on its ability to combine technical performance with commercially viable plant designs and dependable support for operators.

Summary

Krones Recycling GmbH is a German plastics-recycling technology company established in 2024 as an independent subsidiary of Krones AG. It provides equipment and turnkey systems for recycling PET, PE, PP, PS, flexible plastics, and related materials, covering sorting, shredding, washing, drying, decontamination, and plant integration.

Its strategic importance arises from the connection between packaging production and end-of-life material recovery. Supported by Krones’ international engineering and service network, the company supplies recycling solutions for beverage packaging, food and household containers, industrial plastics, films, trays, and other feedstocks. Its future development will be shaped by recycled-content regulation, feedstock complexity, plant efficiency, quality requirements, and the broader economic conditions governing the global circular plastics industry.

References

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  CPS+ eMarketplace. (n.d.). KRONES RECYCLING GMBHKRONES RECYCLING GMBH. CPS+ eMarketplace. https://www.chinaplasonline.com/eMarketplace/ExhibitorInfo?CompId=1036917Link