The energy company Quantafuel ASA has acquired 40% of the shares in Geminor AS. The acquisition makes the two Norwegian companies industry partners and leading players in the development of chemical recycling of plastics in Europe.
Geminor Invest AS, the holding company of Geminor AS, sells 40% of the shares in Geminor to the energy and chemical recycling company Quantafuel. The owners of Geminor Invest, CEO Kjetil Vikingstad and COO Ralf Schöpwinkel, thereby keep 60% of company shares.
Since the startup in Norway in 2004, Geminor AS has grown to become a significant international industry player and waste supplier in Europe. The company currently employs 80 professionals in 10 countries, and in 2020 Geminor delivered close to 2 million tonnes of various types of waste for recycling. This year the turnover is expected to pass EUR 180 million.
Quantafuel AS is a technology-driven energy company that develops, designs and operates production plants for the production of high-quality chemicals and synthetic fuel products based on non-recyclable waste products. Quantafuel currently operates a production plant for chemical recycling in Skive in Denmark.
The chairman of the board of Geminor Invest AS, Arne Haldorsen, comments on the sale and new cooperation. “The international community has major challenges within waste management, especially when it comes to handling ever-increasing amounts of plastic waste. To meet these challenges the waste industry is becoming more industrialised, and new recycling solutions are currently being developed internationally. Geminor wants to be a key player in this process, something we hope to achieve with Quantafuel as a partner and co-owner,” says Haldorsen.
CEO and owner of Geminor, Kjetil Vikingstad, explains how the company synergies make Quantafuel a suitable co-owner of Geminor. “With Quantafuel as a partner we hope to achieve our goal of becoming a leading player in material recycling and energy recovery in Europe. In collaboration with Quantafuel we want to increase the proportion of plastic for material recycling, and by this actively contribute to a circular economy for plastics in Europe,” says Vikingstad.
“Together, the companies form a value chain from the collection, sorting and treatment of plastic waste all the way to the process of chemical recycling. Plastic will now become more important for Geminor, but the company also has a clear strategy to develop fractions and streams within waste wood, RDF, SRF and paper,” Vikingstad adds.
A large proportion of Geminor’s turnover will still come from energy recovery, Kjetil Vikingstad explains.
“At present we collect waste from 350 different waste producers and deliver to over 180 different off-takers in Europe. We will continue to develop more sustainable waste fractions and at the same time extract more waste plastic for chemical recycling. A good combination of energy recovery and material recycling will be important in our strategy for further growth and development,” says Vikingstad.
CEO at Quantafuel, Kjetil Bøhn, sees the partnership with Geminor as an important new step for Quantafuel. “The supply of plastic volumes with the right quality will be very important for us in the years to come. Geminor’s presence and network throughout Europe, in addition to knowledge and experience of the waste industry, will be important in order to streamline the process of chemical recycling of plastics,” says Bøhn.
According to the agreement, all employees and current management will continue in Geminor. The Head Office will also remain at Karmøy in Norway, where Kjetil Vikingstad and Ralf Schöpwinkel will continue as CEO and COO, respectively.
