EREMA remains profitable despite 28% revenue decline as recycling equipment market slows
2026.08.12 - 08:10
• EREMA Group reportedly recorded revenue of EUR 235 million, down around 28% year-on-year. • Despite the significant decline in sales, the Austrian recycling technology specialist remained profitable. • The results provide another indication of weaker investment activity in the plastics recycling equipment market. • EREMA had already reported a 13% decline in sales in the previous financial year, reflecting a prolonged period of uncertainty across the recycling industry. • For the European recycling sector, weaker machinery orders could signal continued caution towards investments in new or expanded recycling capacity.
EREMA faces a more difficult recycling equipment market Austrian plastics recycling technology specialist EREMA Group has remained profitable despite reporting a significant decline in revenue, according to Plastics Information Europe. Group revenue fell by around 28% to EUR 235 million, highlighting the challenging investment environment currently facing the plastics recycling machinery sector. The decline follows an already difficult previous financial year. For 2024/25, EREMA reported revenue of EUR 330 million, approximately 13% below the previous year's level, as economic and geopolitical uncertainty affected investment decisions across the plastics recycling industry. The latest figures therefore suggest that pressure on the recycling equipment market has continued rather than representing a short-term correction. A potential indicator of weaker recycling investment EREMA is one of the world's leading suppliers of plastics recycling systems, with technologies covering a broad range of mechanical recycling applications. The group's installed systems and components enabled the recycling of approximately 26 million tonnes of plastic waste worldwide during the 2024/25 financial year. Its business performance consequently provides a useful indicator of investment conditions within the global mechanical recycling sector. A sharp decline in machinery revenue does not necessarily mean that recycling volumes themselves are falling. It can, however, indicate that recyclers are postponing or reducing capital expenditure on new plants, capacity expansions and technology upgrades. This distinction is particularly important in the current European market. Recyclers continue to face pressure from weak demand for recyclates, competition from relatively inexpensive virgin polymers, high operating costs and uncertainty surrounding future regulatory requirements. Under these conditions, companies may prioritise utilisation of existing assets rather than committing capital to additional capacity. Why it matters for the European recycling industry The development deserves attention because Europe simultaneously faces two opposing forces. Regulation is pushing the plastics value chain towards higher recycled-content requirements and greater circularity, which should structurally increase demand for recycling capacity. At the same time, current market economics are making investment decisions increasingly difficult for recycling companies. If weaker equipment investment persists, the industry could eventually face a mismatch between the recycling capacity required to meet future circularity targets and the capacity actually being installed. EREMA remaining profitable despite the revenue decline also suggests that established technology suppliers are adapting to the weaker investment cycle. For the European plastics recycling industry, however, the key question is broader: whether the current slowdown represents a temporary investment pause or the beginning of a more significant rationalisation of recycling capacity growth. Source: Plastics Information Europe (PIE) / EREMA Group