From piles of trash, the Alfametal company extracts all kinds of junk items, from electronics to cars and engines. It separates the components (iron, copper, plastic, foams) and sells them as raw material to steel companies and foundries.
It is a simple business, which has existed all its life, but which the Catalan company has professionalized with such efficiency that this year it has appeared in the Financial Times ranking as one of the 1,000 fastest growing companies in Europe in the management category. of waste. In the 2022 financial year, its turnover was 215 million euros, compared to 164 million in 2021 and 50 million in 2020.
The growth is explained by the strategic vision of the founding partners, Marcello Perillo and Marcos Manzanares, who had previous experience in the real estate and construction sectors. “In 2016 we had the opportunity to buy a scrap recycling plant in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria at a good price and we decided to fully enter the sector with the desire to professionalize it,” they recall.
Since then, the firm has expanded throughout the Spanish market, acquiring other waste selection and recycling plants in the communities of the Canary Islands, Aragon, Andalusia and Catalonia. In the latter territory, the company has its headquarters in RubÃ, a plant in the facilities of the port of Barcelona and another in the municipality of Port de Vilomara, in the Bages region. In total, the company employs a hundred people and has invested around 30 million euros in the purchase of production centers, the last of which is located in Granada, which will open its doors soon. The headquarters, located in the municipality of RubÃ, is an exception, since it has been built by the company itself with an investment of six million euros.
The business owners explain that the financing comes from their own and bank resources. “Alfametal is a profitable business. It has a gross profit (ebitda) of 6% of total sales. At the moment, it does not contemplate the entry of investment partners to finance its growth, although in the future it does not rule it outâ€, the founders point out.
In this financial year, Alfametal expects to continue growing both in the local and international markets. In fact, exports already represent 50% of turnover. The company sells to a total of 11 countries, including China, India, Turkey and Portugal.
