PRSE : EREMA's plastic recycling breakthrough takes top honour at PRSE 2026

The Plastics Recycling Show Europe (PRSE), held in Amsterdam on 5 and 6 May 2026, once again served as the stage for the Plastics Recycling Awards Europe — and this year, recycling machinery manufacturer EREMA emerged as a standout winner. The company received the 2026 award in the "Recycling Machinery Innovation" category, in recognition of its VOLEX technology and the substantial gains it delivers in degassing performance for mechanical plastic recycling. The awards are jointly presented by Plastics Recyclers Europe and Crain Communications, organiser of PRSE.

The jury praised VOLEX as a remarkable technological advancement that directly addresses the increasingly stringent requirements placed on recycled materials destined for demanding applications. The numbers are striking: the volatile organic compound (VOC) content in recycled pellets produced using VOLEX is up to 40 per cent lower than that achieved with EREMA's own INTAREMA® TVEplus® degassing system, and up to 75 per cent lower than that of the input material. Fogging effects — a particular concern in injection moulding applications — are also significantly reduced.

"We are delighted to receive this award. With the VOLEX technology, we are addressing concrete market requirements in post-consumer recycling that arise from the PPWR and other regulatory frameworks," said Clemens Kitzberger, Business Development Manager at the EREMA Group, who accepted the award in Amsterdam. "What is crucial is the ability to implement high regranulate qualities in a scalable and economically viable way. We see clear added value for our customers in being able to supply more recycled content for higher-value end products."

EREMA first unveiled the VOLEX technology with water stripping at K 2025. Since then, drawing on experience gathered during market introduction and a series of material trials, the process has been further refined. Notably, VOLEX is now also available in a version without water injection, giving recycling companies the flexibility to select whichever configuration best suits their specific operational requirements.

The recognition at PRSE 2026 underscores how targeted engineering advances can deliver meaningful progress in post-consumer recycling — helping the industry keep pace with evolving regulatory expectations whilst unlocking new commercial opportunities for recycled content in higher-value end products.