Caldara Plast, for an ever-greener future

Regenerated compound? The first choice of the company that loves the environment

Caldara Plast is an Italian company specialized in the recovery and regeneration of plastic materials. From the recovery of plastic waste to the production of green technopolymers, that of Caldara is a story of people, passion and tenacity that from a small family business has transformed into a solid and performing SME, capable of giving its customers a 360-degree personalized service on the finished product and the correct recovery of waste according to the law. A truly sustainable business that allows plastic to have a new life and drastically reduce waste production. For an ever greener future. 

In 2023 Caldara celebrates its 60th birthday after a 2022 full of new investments, in the perspective of continuous improvement both on business processes and products.

In addition to its line of certified PSV or GRS green products “Caldara 2nd life”, Caldara is also able to produce tailor-made thermoplastic compounds from first-choice materials or modified industrial-grade products, guaranteeing constant support from our specialized pre- and post-sales technicians to customize the finished product.

A range of products, those of Caldara Plast, capable of satisfying the needs of all companies in the world of plastics in numerous sectors (electrical, electronic, automotive, furniture, household appliances, packaging, construction, housewares, moulding, agriculture…) for both the Italian and international markets in which the company is finding ever greater space.

Six decades of specialization for greener plastics

Caldara Plast is a company that has been on the market since 1963. The company operates in two distinct yet well-integrated activities: on one hand, we find the Recovery Division in Erba (CO), whose premises cover a total area of about 13,000 square meters and specializes in the management and recovery of scrap from different types of plastic materials (including ABS, SAN, PST, PMMA, PC, PP, PE, PA).

The Recovery Division offers the service of collecting and storing industrial plastic waste, possessing all the necessary legal authorizations. Being able to dispose of one’s industrial plastic waste with the certainty that it will be reused is increasingly an added value for companies that supply it to Caldara Plast, obtaining a reasonable remuneration in return. The ground material is also among the products available in the catalogue, with the added advantage of being compliant with the UNI 10667 standard that certifies the origin of these by-products from the recovery and recycling of plastic waste.

The other side of the coin is represented by the Compound Division of Alzate Brianza (CO), specialized in the production and trade of plastic compounds, with a particular focus on technical polymers. The granules produced are mainly ABS, PC/ABS, PC, PS, PA, PBT, PET, PPS, PMMA, POM, etc. All this takes place at a production site covering a total area of approximately 33,000 square meters, about one third of which is covered.

In addition to the customized standard products, Caldara Plast also offers the registered trademark green line “Caldara 2nd Life” with different percentages of certified recycled material contained in it and of different origins available with the green PSV (Plastic Second Life – Plastic Second Life) and GRS certifications (Global Recycle Standard):

• GREENLAC – ABS compound from Industrial Waste, Mixeco, Separate Waste or GRS

• GREENCARB – PC compound from Industrial Waste, Mixeco or GRS

• GREENBLEND – PC/ABS compound from Industrial Waste, Mixeco, Separate Waste or GRS

• GREENSTYR – PS compound from Industrial Waste, Mixeco, Separate Waste or GRS

• GREENMIDE –PA compound from Industrial Waste, Mixeco or GRS

• GREENTER – PBT compound from Industrial Waste, Mixeco or GRS

• GREENGLASS – PMMA compound from Industrial Waste, Mixeco or GRS

• GREENPOM – POM compound from Industrial Waste, or Mixeco

• GREENTRON – PPS compound from Industrial Waste or Mixeco

• GREENKRYL – SAN compound from Industrial Waste or Mixeco

• GREENPET – PET compound from Mixeco, Separate Waste or GRS

Caldara Plast production process

The company’s core business has always been the recovery of industrial processing waste, mainly from processes such as moulding, thermoforming, extrusion and blow-moulding of different types of plastics. These materials are then ground through mills at the Erba site, which is duly authorized for the recovery, transport and storage of the inputs used, which by law are considered waste. Caldara Plast directly organizes the entire cycle, from the collection of waste with the help of its own fleet of vehicles, providing companies with special tanks, roll-off skips and presses to collect the material. The material destined for recovery, once ground, is stored in the warehouses and can consequently be sold as such or sent to the Alzate Brianza site, which specializes in extrusion for the production of customized thermoplastic granules.

In the Compound Division, the ground material is thus processed and, depending on the customer’s specific requirements, it can be re-granulated without additions, or it can be additivated (with flame retardants, also halogen-free, glass fibre, carbon fibre, glass spheres, anti-static, laserable, UV, antibacterial, conductive additives, aramid fibre) and/or pigmented and then extruded with special single and twin-screw dies. Altogether, Caldara Plast boasts no less than 15 extrusion lines with relative mixers to homogenize production batches. Processing takes place on a continuous cycle, consequently managing to extrude, at full capacity, over 100 tonnes per day of material for a total of approximately 22,000 tonnes per year.

The division’s laboratory houses specialized technicians who constantly check the quality of the product, both incoming and outgoing, directly on site, thus personally guaranteeing high quality standards and keeping them constant over time. 

Well aware of the fact that respect for the environment and the incentive to use recycled plastic are driving the markets well beyond forecasts, Caldara Plast is structuring itself in an increasingly efficient manner to respond to the consequent constantly evolving market dynamics, in line with the company mission, which is to reduce the share of non-recoverable plastic waste to a minimum and to promote the culture of using regenerated material, considerably reducing the use of virgin raw materials, where technically feasible.

Caldara Plast is increasingly convinced that the use of regenerated plastic material must increasingly be the first choice of companies that care about the environment. So many actions to give a second life to plastic. For an ever-greener future.