Context

ARMA, a Moroccan environmental services operator specializing in waste collection and management, commissioned Massir Invest to support the definition of its positioning strategy as a player in the circular economy. This strategic review identified and prioritized several recovery initiatives, including plastic waste recycling. This was selected as a priority initiative and was subsequently the subject of an in-depth techno-economic feasibility study.

Scope / Methodology

The intervention was conducted in two phases — strategic scoping followed by an in-depth study of the priority initiative:

• Development of the diversification strategy toward the circular economy, including the identification of recoverable material flows accessible to the group, the evaluation of opportunities by sector, and the prioritization of initiatives for implementation, in line with the group’s strengths (privileged access to waste sources, acquired industrial site, acquisition of a plastics processing company)
• Analysis of plastic recycling issues in Morocco, focusing on the characterization of the national plastic waste supply, breakdown by resin type, evaluation of effective recycling rates, and estimation of the as-yet unrecovered supply at the regional level
• Design of the regeneration unit, including the sizing of sorting, grinding, washing, and granulation lines, technical and economic comparison of equipment from several international suppliers, human resources sizing, and analysis of material flows by resin with quantification of losses at each stage of the process
• Detailed economic modeling by resin and processing level, including cost breakdown, margin analysis by product and sales channel (local and export markets), sales price sensitivity study, and evaluation of the economic relevance of decentralized regional pre-treatment units
• Targeting of plastics processing outlets by crossing criteria (share of integrable recycled material, substitutable imports, local competitive landscape, synergies with group activities), covering a long list of traditional products and innovative product leads

Results / Outputs / Deliverables

• Positioning strategy in the circular economy and prioritization of recovery initiatives
• Diagnosis of the national and regional plastic waste supply by resin type
• Technical design of the regeneration unit with equipment and workforce sizing
• Detailed economic model by resin, processing level, and sales channel
• Mapping of priority plastics processing outlets with import substitutability analysis

Value for the Client

Upon completion of this mission, the client has a clarified strategy for diversification toward the circular economy and a structured decision-making framework to launch its priority industrial investment in plastic recycling, backed by granular economic modeling by resin and value chain segment. The identification of priority outlets and synergies with the group’s existing activities provides a roadmap for progressively building an integrated recovery sector.