Author: ecobalt

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The largest environmental resource management group in the Baltics, JSC (AS) Eco Baltia, closed the first nine months of 2023 with a turnover of EUR 161.1 million, 4% up compared to EUR 154.9 million in the first nine months of 2022. Increase in turnover was mainly driven by acquisition of new companies, as well as a solid performance in the environmental management sector. Whereas, EBITDA of Eco Baltia reached 19.2 million (EUR 17.9 million in the first nine months of 2022).

Mr Māris Simanovičs, Chairman of the Board of the Eco Baltia: “We have continued to grow in the first nine months of the year, both through organic growth and acquisitions. We have increased our market both in Latvia and internationally. This year’s success is also reflected in the TOP 101 list of Latvia’s most valuable companies, where we have risen seven places in just one year. The first nine months were also notable for the broad investor interest in Eco Baltia’s bonds, which were listed on the First North alternative market. This allows us to plan the broader development of the group.”

Earlier this year, Eco Baltia issued its first bonds worth EUR 8 million, with investor demand exceeding the maximum amount of offer 3.5 times. The bonds mature on 17 February 2026, with an option for the issuer to retire the bonds after two years. The bonds are listed on the Nasdaq Baltic Alternative Market “First North” from 2 March 2023.  After the reporting period, Eco Baltia issued bonds for a second time – EUR 10 million for three years. Again, investor demand was strong, exceeding supply by 1.7 times.

Along with the acquisitions completed last year, work has continued in the first nine months of this year to evaluate new business lines and acquisitions, further strengthening Eco Baltia’s position and market share both in Latvia and internationally, while developing and expanding the full-cycle waste circulation in the overall service portfolio. Work has also been carried out, and will continue in the coming years, on the modernisation and digitalisation of various processes within the company.

At the beginning of 2023, Eco Baltia’s largest environmental segment company, Eco Baltia vide, through its subsidiary, producer responsibility system operator Latvijas Zaļais punkts, concluded a deal to acquire the street and road maintenance company Pilsētas Eko Serviss. The transaction resulted in the acquisition of 100% of capital shares in companies Pilsētas Eko Serviss, PES serviss and B 124,  which were merged into Eco Baltia vide as of 1 December. Eco Baltia vide and Ecoservice continued work on the development of several projects, including the construction debris sorting site, as well as the sorting of household waste, textiles and other materials.

Eco Baltia Group’s polymer recycling company Nordic Plast has completed the testing of its new plastic sorting and recycling line. More than EUR 2.8 million was invested in its development last year, with the aim of increasing production capacity by up to 30% over time. 

Whereas, the recycler of PET bottles, PET Baltija, continues work on the development of its new production plant in Olaine, where the company will invest a total of more than EUR 10 million in production equipment. The new plant is scheduled to be fully operational next year, tripling PET production capacity. In order to facilitate even faster development of PET Baltija and implementation of investment projects, changes have been made in the composition of the Management Board: in July, Mr Kaspars Ezernieks, CEO of PET Baltija, became a Member of the Management Board, while, from 11 September, Ms Jūlija Zandersone joined the PET Baltija management team as the Chairperson of the Management Board, meanwhile also holding the position of Head of the Recycling Sector at Eco Baltia Group.

Since the business model and activities of Eco Baltia companies are focused on the implementation of the principles of circular economy through various sustainable business practices, active work continued on the development and implementation of a consolidated ESG (environmental, social and governance) strategy, as well as on the creation of an effective internal environment, marked by the status of the national programme “Family Friendly Workplace” implemented by the Society Integration Foundation.

Eco Baltia’s main objectives are to improve working conditions, support employees, ensure the highest level of occupational safety and improve ESG and sustainability by continuing to invest in the recycling sector and waste and environmental management. The plan is to gradually start production at the new PET Baltija production plant, tripling PET production over time, and to foster synergies between the Group’s companies to maximise the benefits of full-cycle waste management.

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In order to promote waste sorting in Latvia, and thus also to accelerate the achievement of the European Union’s 2025 targets, Eco Baltia, a company of the largest environmental resource management group in the Baltics, Eco Baltia vide Ltd, will invest EUR 11.7 million in the construction of a sorting plant for unsorted municipal and separately collected waste in Acone, Salaspils Municipality, with a total capacity of 45,000 tonnes per year.

The new plant will be able to sort 20,000 tonnes of municipal waste and 25,000 tonnes of sorted waste annually (for comparison, the current sorting capacity of Eco Baltia vide’s plant at Getliņu iela 5 for secondary materials is around 18,000 tonnes per year). The plant is planned to occupy a 4,000 square metre site, including a 3,385 square metre building and 700 square metre of sheds. The new plant will employ around 70 people. The plant is expected to open in autumn 2024.

The new plant will have a multi-stage optical sorting system with the ability to change both the types of materials to be sorted and the quality control during the sorting process, to remove contaminants from the optically separated stream or, if the stream is too dirty, to select only the useful material. 

“The main objective of the project and the biggest benefit from a business perspective is efficiency – significant savings in landfill waste, labour, sorting losses and energy consumption. Unlike other similar facilities, it will be able to sort both municipal and separately collected waste, but will not use intensive shredding and wind tunnels, instead focusing on adaptive equipment and optical sorting. This will save energy and recover as much recycled material as possible,” says Jānis Aizbalts, Chairman of Eco Baltia vide.

Unsorted municipal waste will be delivered to the plant from Eco Baltia vide’s Pierīga Region, while sorted waste will be delivered from Riga and Pierīga. Sorting will be largely automated: in the first stage, large and non-compliant items such as household appliances, bricks, bulky and hazardous waste, metal, glass, etc. will be manually sorted, while the rest will be sent to automated machines that sort waste of certain sizes, including PET bottles, paper, metal, glass and various packaging materials. At the end of the process, manual quality control is carried out to ensure a higher value of recyclable materials.

The plant project builds on seven years of experience at the Eco Baltia vide plant in Liepāja. Ideas have also been drawn from similar plants in Poland, Estonia and Lithuania. J.Aizbalts: “These are solutions that make it possible to separate as much glass and metal as possible, which by weight is the largest fraction of recyclable materials in municipal waste. We have brought together all the best technical solutions in one plant to make the sorting process as efficient and safe as possible, and it will be an important support for the European Union’s 2025 recycling targets for plastic packaging waste.”

Latvia generates more than 800,000 tonnes of municipal waste each year, of which approximately 50% is sorted and recycled. The European Union has set strict waste reduction targets for its member states, including a sharp increase in recycling rates – up to 65% of total waste by 2035. At the same time, the European Commission report points out that Latvia is at risk of missing a number of 2025 targets, including for plastics recycling. In addition, Latvia already has to pay the EU a plastic tax of around €16-20 million per year for the amount of plastic it does not recycle.

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INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund, the leading private equity fund in the Baltic States, together with its portfolio company Eco Baltia, the largest environmental resource management and recycling group in the Baltics, has closed an agreement for the acquisition of 70% of the shares in Metal-Plast. Metal-Plast is the largest recycler of PVC window and door profiles in Poland. 

As a result of the transaction, Eco Baltia and INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund now own 70% of Metal-Plast, with 38.5% and 31.5% respectively. Family Foundation SIDN retains a 30% stake in the company. INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund owns a 52.81% stake in Eco Baltia, while 30.51% is owned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The remaining shares are owned by Māris Simanovičs.  

Sebastian Fedorowicz, founder of Metal-Plast, commented:

“This year marks the third decade of Metal-Plast, which is a significant period in the company’s development. During these years, we have strengthened our position as the largest recycler of PVC window and door profiles in Poland. Our products and services cover the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria as well as other countries. We are now ready to take the next steps in our international development, where we will continue to work in close partnership with Eco Baltia and INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund”. 

Jānis Aizbalts, Head of Environmental Services at Eco Baltia, commented:  

“In recent years, we have witnessed the rapid development of the Eco Baltia Group. We have expanded our activities in our home market, in Lithuania, in Czech Republic and now also in Poland. The group’s business portfolio thus far includes environmental management services and plastic packaging recycling, and since 2022 PET fiber production in addition. We are pleased to now have the opportunity to further contribute to the PVC recycling sector together with Metal-Plast”. 

Vytautas Plunksnis, Partner at INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund and Chairman of the Eco Baltia Supervisory Board, added:  

“Metal-Plast is a welcome addition to our portfolio as the 8th investment, as circular economy remains to be one of our key strategic verticals. Exciting growth journey awaits ahead in partnership with one of the most successful portfolio companies to date Eco Baltia and founder Mr. Fedorowicz as Metal-Plast turns a new page in its development.”  

Metal-Plast has an annual turnover of ~€34 million and employs ~200 people. The company is based in Świebodzice, in the Polish province of Lower Silesia. Metal-Plast’s current recycling capacity is ~29,000 tonnes per year. There are plans to increase this by a factor of 1.5 to ~45,000 tonnes per year, thereby further increasing its contribution to the circular economy. To contextualise, one tonne of recycled PVC saves two tonnes of CO2 emissions, which has a significant and positive impact towards the European Union’s climate neutrality targets. 

The company will continue to be led by Chief Executive Officer Mr. Grzegorz Jasinski. Jasinski concluded:  
“One of Metal-Plast’s core values is for continuous development, where we are now entering a new and exciting phase for. We are delighted to have such influential market players with their extensive experience in international waste management operations and recycling, join our shareholder base. In close cooperation with Eco Baltia and INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund, we will now be able to achieve even higher recycling targets for PVC window and door frames. This direction of travel will be particularly important in the coming years, when a wave of window replacement is expected in a number of European Union countries.” 

The acquisition of Metal Plast was financed by mBank, the Polish bank of the Commerzbank Group. 
Tomasz Niewola, Head of Investment Banking at Polish bank mBank: 

“From both a banking and advisory perspective, we are seeing an increased inflow of regional capital – including from the Baltic States – into Poland as the largest CEE economy. The recycling / circular economy segment is one of the most interesting at the moment, both in terms of ESG impact and business attractiveness”. 

The owner of Metal-Plast was advised by M&A advisor mInvestment Banking S.A. (part of mBank Group) and law firm Ożóg Tomczykowski. Eco Baltia and INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund were advised by Wolf Theiss, Sorainen and Deloitte.