The STADLER Summit 2026 brought customers and industry media together to discuss the operational and strategic challenges facing recycling companies. The event also offered practical insight into how STADLER Group combines engineering, production, digital technologies and lifecycle services to address different operational and market requirements.

The program began with presentations on the new Air Drum Sifter, digital solutions for optimized plant performance, technical innovations for next-generation sorting plants and the company’s comprehensive service offering, followed by a tour of STADLER’s production facilities.

The official inauguration of STADLER’s new Test Center was led by Julia and Willi Stadler, followed by a live demonstration showcasing selected STADLERconnect modules. HDPE, PET and film were processed to demonstrate the facility’s ability to test different plastic fractions under realistic operating conditions.

“The Summit was conceived as much more than a company presentation. It was an opportunity to listen to our customers, exchange experiences and discuss how the recycling industry is evolving,” says Julia Stadler, Co-CEO of the STADLER Group. “By bringing together engineering, manufacturing, digitalization and service, we can support our customers throughout the entire lifecycle of their plants and help them respond to their individual operational and market requirements.”

Altshausen: the heart of STADLER’s engineering and production

Guests were given a behind-the-scenes tour of STADLER’s headquarters in Altshausen, where more than 350 employees work across over 20,000 m² of production and logistics space. The visit covered storage and logistics, sheet metal processing, robotic welding, powder coating and final assembly, offering a close look at the company’s “Made in Germany” manufacturing capabilities.

The site produces key equipment and components for tailor-made sorting plants, including conveyor systems, ballistic separators, air drum sifters, dosing systems and sorting cabins. Recent investments in new welding robots and a vertical CNC machining center have further strengthened its capabilities. Keeping these processes in-house gives STADLER direct control over quality, precision and delivery, while enabling close cooperation between engineering, manufacturing and assembly.

New Test Center brings engineering and customer validation together

The Summit culminated in the inauguration of STADLER’s new Test Center, spanning approximately 2,160 m² across several halls, with 726 m² dedicated to the test installation and equipment. Developed primarily for the Engineering Department, it will support fundamental trials, prototype development and the optimization of machines, components and digital solutions.

The Test Center incorporates examples of every type of equipment manufactured at the Altshausen site, together with digital solutions such as AI Material Compass, volume flow sensors and STADLERconnect. It will be used to test plastic fractions and textiles and evaluate new machine concepts, including different air classifier models.

Customers will be able to test their own materials, optimize processing parameters and compare different machine configurations, reducing investment risk through validated test results. The facility will also provide hands-on training for operators and service personnel, helping customers achieve consistent throughput, high plant availability and the best possible recovery and purity levels.

A complementary testing and innovation network

The new Altshausen facility complements STADLER’s Test & Innovation Center in Krško, Slovenia. Krško is also home to STADLER's second production site, where trommel screens, label removers and the electrical components for the STADLER sorting plants are manufactured. While the Test Center in Altshausen focuses on STADLER’s own technologies and customer-facing trials, the Krško facility combines STADLER equipment with additional technologies, including shredding, magnetic and eddy current separation, and NIR sorting, for larger-scale material trials and comprehensive process validation.

“The new Test Center creates a direct link between our engineering expertise, practical testing and the real needs of our customers,” says Willi Stadler, Co-CEO of the STADLER Group. “Waste composition, collection systems, legislation and output requirements vary from one project to another, so we engineer the mechanical, electrical and digital components as an integrated system. The facility enables us to evaluate and refine that interaction under realistic conditions.”

Investing in long-term customer success

With around 650 employees worldwide, STADLER invests a high single-digit percentage of its annual revenue in manufacturing capabilities, software, research and development, and its engineering teams. These investments support the company’s long-term commitment to developing tailor-made sorting solutions and helping customers maintain efficient, reliable and high-performing plants throughout their complete lifecycle.