In 2020, one of the leading companies in the chemical recycling of plastics in Europe, Quantafuel, acquired 40 percent of the shares in the Norwegian resource management group Geminor. The acquisition tied the companies closer together and strengthened the recycling of waste plastics in the Nordics.
The same share of stock has now been sold back to the founder and CEO of Geminor, Kjetil Vikingstad, and co-owner Ralf Schöpwinkel. Hence, the two have secured sole ownership of the company, as before the Quantafuel acquisition in 2020.
New Quantafuel owner
The decision to buy Geminor shares was made in connection with Quantafuel being in a sales process, explains CEO Kjetil Vikingstad. The Geminor founder believes this is a natural and undramatic decision.
“Quantafuel will most likely be acquired by the British waste management company Viridor. Hence, we faced a choice between continuing operations with the new owner of Quantafuel, or buying the company back. The choice fell on the latter, which we believe is right for Geminor and our plans for expansion in the European waste and recycling market", says Vikingstad.
“With Quantafuel as a partner, Geminor has taken new steps within the recycling of plastics, and it has been a productive collaboration for both companies. The fact that we choose to continue without Quantafuel as owner changes neither the structure nor the strategy of Geminor”, says Vikingstad.
Will focus on plastics
Quantafuel selling its shares in Geminor does not mean that the investment in plastics is over for Geminor. Plastic recycling will continue to be an important part of the company's strategy, explains the chairman of Geminor AS, Truls Gautesen.
"Geminor will continue to develop existing and new markets, create new fractions with a lower fossil footprint, increase mobile waste treatment, and increase efforts in material recycling. Overall, our goal is to double the volume of waste we handle by 2026. As for plastics, this is an important part of our strategy to strengthen our recycling efforts," says Truls Gautesen, chairman of the board.
