Business
The Vorarlberg packaging company Alpla produces, among other things, pet bottles near Johannesburg. The general conditions are challenging because electricity in South Africa is turned off every day. The group found a solution for this.
12/28/2023 04/12
Online since today, 12:04 pm
Demand for electricity in South Africa far exceeds supply. To prevent grid collapse, power is turned off for several hours every day. A challenge that is also faced by Alpla, a packaging company from Vorarlberg, which produces pet bottles, among other things, near Johannesburg.
Special agreement with Eskom
After long negotiations with the state energy company Eskom, Alpla managed to reach a special agreement. “We have to save energy like everyone else, but independently and not at government-determined times,” says Mike Resnicek, general director for the Africa, Middle East and Turkey regions. “We can choose which hours of the day we will be without power.”
Important PET bottles for drinking water supply
The main reason for this special agreement is the fact that the Alpla factory produces, among other things, PET bottles, which are important for supplying drinking water to the population. Despite all the difficulties with energy supply, South Africa is an important location for Alpla. From then on, the company also supplies other African countries.
Domestic Electricity Production and Recycling Initiative
By building the factory outside of Johannesburg, the packaging company also made sure it could rely on self-produced electricity in case of bottlenecks. The entire roof – the size of four football fields – is already a photovoltaic system. Furthermore, Alpla plans to increase the low recycling rate in South Africa. A large recycling plant is scheduled to be built in South Africa by the end of 2024.
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Alpla is building a recycling plant in South Africa
Alpla is one of the world's leading companies in the production and reuse of plastic packaging. Around 23,300 employees worldwide produce packaging systems, bottles, closures and injection molded parts at 190 locations in 46 countries. A total of seven sites are operated in South Africa, Mauritius and Angola and more than 1,000 people are employed.