Italy’s powerhouse RMB committed to sustainable recycling

The hills south-east of Lake Garda are home to RMB, one of Italy’s largest and most advanced recycling companies. Owned and led by the Goffi family, RMB and its subsidiary businesses handle more than 2 million tonnes of scrap materials, mostly metals and bottom ashes, every year with promising new projects on the horizon.

Seen from the air, Polpenazze seems like any other north Italian town surrounded by meadows, woods and vineyards – and no recycling practices, at least not in the open air. But look more closely and you’ll spot a dozen huge halls. Spanning an area of around 100 000 m2, almost completely indoors, covered and walled, this is the headquarters and main facility of recycling major RMB, a fast-growing company managing up to 780 000 tonnes of scrap materials.

Annual turnover: more that EUR 400 million. ‘Welcome to RMB,’ says Andrea Goffi, who’s second generation at the helm of the family business. ‘Our plant is designed to maximise recovery across a broad spectrum of waste streams. These include bottom ash from municipal and special waste incineration (ferrous and non-ferrous), bodies and components from end-of-life vehicles), packaging materials and a variety of other industrial residues.

‘Through cutting-edge technology, specialised processes, and over four decades of expertise, RMB transforms complex waste into valuable resources, reducing landfill dependency while supporting a sustainable future.’

Since its launch more than four decades ago, RMB has grown from a family business collecting and trading metals into one of Europe’s leading multi-purpose platforms for the treatment and recovery of hazardous and non-hazardous special waste.

GROWING, TRANSFORMING

In 1981, Antonio Goffi started manual sorting and collecting metals from the family home. A decade later, the company received its first regional permit for the storage, sorting and recovery of special waste with a handling capacity of 10 000 tonnes per year. The year 2000 brought an increase in annual capacity to 30 000 tonne, followed in 2003 by the inauguration of a new facility at Via Montecanale.

Over the following years, Goffi and his team followed their dream and ambition, with new capacity added regularly. In 2005, the Province of Brescia approved an expansion project that doubled capacity, followed in 2007 by another expansion, bringing total capacity to almost 190 000 tonnes per year.

CAPACITY BUILD-UP CONTINUES

By 2011, RMB obtained a permit for recovery and disposal operations with an annual ceiling of 320 000 tonnes. New plants were commissioned, including a car shredder and a sorting plant. By 2015, annual capacity had reached 620 000 tonnes. The second half of the decade was marked by innovation and diversification.

RMB registered its Resal trademark in 2017, certifying a cast-ready aluminium alloy product destined for end-users. In 2018, it acquired and revamped the Riam recycling operation, followed in 2020 by a new aluminium alloy sorting plant, strengthening its leadership in metal recovery.

Expansion continued with the acquisition of Garm – to increase metal separation from urban waste – and Ri. Genera, which boosted RMB’s bottom ash recovery business. In 2022 RMB received the green light to increase its total recycling capacity to 780 000 tonnes per year.

In 2023, the acquisitions of RMI and Autore underlined RMB’s commitment to broaden its impact and expertise across Italy.

ROOTED IN VALUES

At the heart of RMB’s mission lies the principle of constant improvement in waste processing. Goffi: ‘We’re committed to recovering an ever-growing number of fractions and transforming them to reduce the need for virgin resources. In line with EU regulations, RMB works hard to minimise landfilling by putting a lot of effort into research, the latest technology and cuttingedge plants.’

RMB holds the highest standards of quality and environmental protection while safeguarding workplace health and safety. The company follows a code of ethics that guarantees transparent and fair relations with customers, suppliers, public institutions, shareholders and staff.

INNOVATION PRIORITY

RMB Group’s core expertise lies in advanced waste recovery processes, developed over more than three decades of continuous innovation. Its activities span several key cycles: e-scrap, end of life vehicles, and metals. The company uses state-of-the-art shredding, sorting and screening technologies which form the backbone of its operations: magnetic separators, optical and x-ray sorters, and flotation systems ensure the highest recovery rates even from the finest fractions.

With a global presence, RMB imports Tobanelli’s Luca Bettinzoli (right) and Simone Guidetti. and exports across Europe, Asia and North America. Its supply chain extends to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, Greece, Croatia, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, the UK and the USA, while its export markets are worldwide.

‘This global reach is supported by a dynamic commercial team,’ says commercial manager Lorenzo Soncina. ‘They’re all trained to adapt to shifting markets and customer needs while maintaining strong technical knowledge of materials and processes.’

Read the full story in our latest issue >>