The Middle East plastic recycling market is maturing, processing larger volumes and deploying industrial-scale machinery. That has been the experience of Vecoplan, the Germany headquartered manufacturer of machines and systems for the recycling industry.
At the Plastics Recycling Show Middle East and Africa (PRS ME&A), taking place in Dubai Sept. 10-12, Vecoplan is looking to expand its presence and visibility in the region.
“I think that there’s a lot of potential in the region, especially when you look at plastics recycling,” Ruben Maistry, regional head of sales at Vecoplan, told Sustainable Plastics at PRS ME&A. “Plastic recycling on a global front is quite a big topic no matter where you are, but I think in the Middle East — where a lot of the raw virgin materials are produced — it is especially good to be manufacturing recycled material rather than producing more virgin plastic.”
Vecoplan is seeing "quite high" demand for its recycling systems and machinery in the Middle East, particularly for large-scale equipment to keep up with higher volumes being processed by recyclers, Maistry said. The region is also seeing a healthy flow of capital investments, he added.
“We are looking at big industrial scales. During past experiences, when you spoke to customers, they were looking at producing smaller volumes just to get a feel for the market. But I think now the demand has grown so much. We’re now getting customers looking for much bigger plants,” Maistry commented.
Vecoplan’s enquiries are mostly coming in from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and India, Maistry revealed. Sales from these markets contributed to Vecoplan’s record revenue and profit in 2023.
Technological leadership and a customer-focused team were key for success, Maistry said.
“I think the most important thing is being able to understand what your customers want, what their challenges are, and being able to provide a solution that will tackle those challenges.”
“We are also keeping up with the technology that's available. Taking that into account as well as the fact that we are able to run machinery for longer at lower [operating] costs, I think that’s also why a lot of customers turn to us.”
The same reasons motivate clients in the Middle East and Africa, Maistry said. A lot of Vecoplan’s customers in the area are subsidiaries of European companies or local enterprises that want to replicate recycling plants operating in Europe, he added.
“Local companies we work with are usually companies that invested a little bit in the beginning, to start off their business, test the market. As time has gone by, they have noticed that there’s higher demand which is why they are replicating larger-scale operations from established markets.”
Vecoplan has not faced any particular issues doing business in the Middle East, Maistry said. The shipping disruptions in the Rea Sea in the past year have not impacted the company’s operations.