ALPLA celebrates 70 years

‘Plastic is fantastic’: ALPLA has been proving this for 70 years. Founded in 1955 in a laundry room in Hard by Lake Constance in Austria, the family-owned company has grown into a global player with 200 locations in 46 countries.

As a ‘Family of Pioneers’, more than 24,000 employees develop, manufacture and recycle safe, affordable and sustainable packaging solutions – close to the customer. At the anniversary celebration on 12 September, CEO Philipp Lehner set the tone for the technology market leader's ambitious plans for the future.

ALPLA packaging touches the lives of billions of people every day. In Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia, it ensures affordable consumption and supports numerous industries with safe solutions for consumer goods. More than 24,000 employees are responsible for this success. When the company was founded by brothers Alwin and Helmuth Lehner in 1955, its rise to become a global player was not yet foreseeable – but it was anything but a coincidence.

With a passion for technology, spirit and strong teamwork, the company made an exemplary rise from a small family business to a renowned global technology manufacturer for rigid plastic packaging. Numerous innovations, visionary concepts, bold expansions and family cohesion have shaped the past 70 years. Milestones include the legendary Alplamat extrusion blow-moulding machine (1958), the first in-house plant located directly at the customer’s site (1985), the world’s first two-step PET bottle (1985) and the early use of post-consumer recycled material (1990). More recent highlights include the industrialisation of bio-based paper bottles and biodegradable coffee capsules.

As a system provider, the company implements packaging solutions from a single source – tailor-made and optimised in seven development centres and four one-stop shops for product design (STUDIOa) worldwide. With strong commitment and based on facts, ALPLA is also actively promoting the appreciation of plastic through its ‘Plastic is Fantastic’ initiative, educating consumers about the many benefits of the material.

Growth with vision

In the 1990s, Günther Lehner led the company with foresight and a keen sense of customer needs. He drove forward the move into recycling and consolidated the company’s unique role as a system provider. Since 2021, CEO Philipp Lehner has been at the helm, leading the ALPLA Group into the future as the third generation of the family.

He has ambitious goals, as he announced at the 70th anniversary celebration on 12 September at the congress centre Festspielhaus Bregenz: ‘We have grown enormously and always remained true to our values. We will continue to do both. To this end, we are focusing on our strengths in our core business, relying on high-quality recycling and specifically tapping into new markets and technologies. And we are exploring the unknown with bold ideas.’

Lehner highlighted the trusting cooperation within the ‘Family of Pioneers’ and long-term strategic planning as the company's greatest competitive advantages: ‘We support each other and continuously improve. This is how we have grown into a strong and reliable brand over the past 70 years – for customers, partners and as an employer. This is also our recipe for success for the future.’