Three men, one mission: Crafting the future of plastic recycling

Ölsremma is a small village in southern Sweden with just a few hundred inhabitants. Few would imagine that it is home to a state-of-the-art plastic recycling facility. Since launching operations in April 2024, the Ölsremma compounding plant has recycled more than 1,000 tons of PE waste, saving over 1,200 tons of CO₂ emissions in its first year.

The most impressive part? This major achievement was accomplished by a production team of just three men: Production Leader Caj Johansson and Senior Production Specialists Jan Hellberg and Bo Johansson. Each of them has been with Pipelife for more than three decades, bringing unique expertise and knowledge in plastic pipe production that was instrumental in getting the new site up and running.

_{Building a recycling powerhouse}

Pipelife Sweden launched its first production facility in Ölsremma in 1997. When the decision was made in 2021 to expand and relocate production to Ljung, the question remained: what would become of the old plant?

The company decision made in 2023 brought great news for the entire team — the site would be repurposed into a PP/PE compounding facility, supplying Pipelife with top-tier recycled raw materials for pipe production.

However, producing recyclates that meet the piping industry’s stringent requirements required a custom-built compounding system. Most recycled plastics in Europe are still downcycled — turned into lower-quality products with a short lifespan that often cannot be recycled again. The Ölsremma team was determined to change that, aiming to produce high-quality recyclates with properties as close to virgin material as possible.

Testing of the new recycling equipment began in autumn 2023, and Caj Johansson, Production Leader at Ölsremma, has played a key role in the plant’s success.

Caj joined Pipelife Sweden in 1993, working in PVC production and, from 2015 onward, served as a production engineer. Driven by a genuine interest in plastics engineering and always eager to expand his knowledge, he eventually developed into a materials engineer.

“It’s always been challenging — in a good way — to work here. The industry has changed tremendously — from how we develop materials to how we manufacture new products. Pipelife has continuously invested in production in Sweden, so there have always been exciting developments to work on,” he recalls.

After production was moved to Ljung, Caj briefly worked elsewhere, but was excited to return when offered the opportunity to lead the new compounding plant:

“I’m proud that we are able to take plastic waste from external sources, transform it and create a new raw material, suitable for our products — preventing the waste from ending up in incinerators.”

_{Quality starts with the right mix}

The Ölsremma plant primarily processes used PE pipes. However, approximately 20-30% of incoming material consists of other types of PE waste, such as bottles, containers and caps, sourced from recycling companies across Sweden. The production team inspects each batch of material and continuously tests new formulas to broaden the scope of recyclable waste — all while ensuring the high quality of the end product.

The process starts with waste selection and formulation, combining the base polymer with exact proportions and types of additives, plasticizers and fillers. While the exact formulas used are secret, Caj reveals that up to 7% of chalk can be added as a stiffener while additives take no more than 0.1% of the mix:

“Since we work with materials from external sources, we must meet very strict quality standards. To ensure the recycled material possesses the desired properties, the compounding process must be as stable as possible.”

_{Decades of expertise, powered by team spirit}

Since compounding is a complex, multi-stage process that requires in-depth expertise and professional oversight throughout, it’s surprising how this responsibility is handled by just two production technicians. One of them, Bo Johansson, has been with Pipelife for more than 40 years. He has gained experience in PVC, PP, PE extrusion as well as rotational and injection molding, offering a unique mix of production skills. As Bo has lived his whole life in Ölsremma, he was thrilled about the relaunch of the old plant and joining the newly formed production team.

“I was prepared to relocate to Ljung when I heard about this opportunity,” he recalls, “And I genuinely wanted to try it. I think it’s very timely to address the plastic waste issue.”

Bo works side by side with another production specialist, Jan Hellberg, who joined Pipelife in 1985. Jan has also always lived close to Ölsremma, and both men have tackled plenty of production challenges during their careers.

“It was fascinating that something new would start here,” Jan says. “A lot has happened in Pipelife for the last 35-40 years, and it’s been exciting to learn new things.”

In the piping industry, launching and calibrating a new production line is never straightforward — and at Ölsremma, the challenge was even greater. The plant operates with a custom-built compounding system, making the setup process highly complex and dependent on innovation, precision and persistence.

Working closely with colleagues from Ljung and Pipelife’s R&D department, the local production team navigated technical hurdles and developed efficient workflows to get the plant running smoothly in record time. The secret to their success? An unbreakable team spirit and decades of hands-on experience.

“It was very interesting to start everything from scratch,” Jan admits. “To resolve problems, it’s important to get support from colleagues, to talk things through and try to come up with the best solution. This way, it always works out!”

“I’ll put it this way — we have fun at work,” Bo adds. “And when we both got this new responsibility, Jan and I told each other, we have to stay positive; we have to learn this. So, we went hard for it, and now we see everything working pretty well!” 

_{The journey continues}

In the coming years, the Ölsremma plant is expected to run at full capacity, with the cheerful team expanding to 8–10 people working across three shifts.

“Plastic recycling is topical, so it only makes sense to scale our production,” says Jan. “Now, we’re running eight hours a day, but we could go up to 24/7.”

“In the beginning, it’s always a challenge to get new machinery up and running. But once it’s rolling — and rolling well — it brings joy. Currently, we’re working with PE. I hope we also start PP compounding in the future,” Bo adds.

The planned Ölsremma plant expansion will allow Pipelife to incorporate an even higher share of locally sourced, recycled plastics in its production.

“We now can uptake plastic waste from various sources and transform it through our own state-of-the-art process, producing new, high-quality pipes,” concludes Caj. “We’ve invested in a new technology that puts us at the forefront of plastic recycling. And that’s something that will benefit everyone in the long run.”