Albis Plastic will acquire WIPAG Group, specialists in processing and production of carbon fiber compounds for injection-moulding, with sites in Neuburg Donau and Gardelegen, in Germany.

Peter Wiedemann, founder and CEO of WIPAG Group: “In Albis Plastic, we have found a partner for whom innovation and sustainability are equally as important as they are to us. This move will ensure the further development of our eco-friendly technologies and our company.”

With this acquisition Albis, the Hamburg distributor and compounder of technical thermoplastics, invested further into its recycling activities. WIPAG's innovative recycling technology takes waste carbon fibre, which comes mostly from the automotive industry, and processes it into reinforced carbon fibre compounds.

In future, Albis will offer polypropylene and polyamide, carbon fibre filled compounds, which offer excellent mechanical properties and low density. With PPCF compounds a significant weight and cost advantage compared with highly-filled, glass fibre reinforced polyamide types can be achieved, providing potential for exploitation of light-weighting requirements.

Philip O. Krahn, CEO of Albis Plastic, said: "In WIPAG, the Albis Group has gained a company which, on the one hand, has cutting-edge and forward-looking CFRP technology and, on the other, has years of experience in the closed-loop recycling business.”

Closed-loop describes techniques such as the composite separation of instrument panels or the removal of paint from bumpers as part of the materials recycling process. These highly-developed closed-loop processes provide an ideal opportunity for ECO-friendly production.

Carbon fibre pellets