Saica is continuing to expand its industrial footprint in Europe without displacing a significant portion of its strategic investments from Aragon. The group, founded in Zaragoza in 1943, has strengthened its international presence with the acquisition of the German group Thimm, an operation that adds ten plants and around 2,500 workers to its structure, raising the company’s global workforce to over 14,500 people.
The integration expands Saica’s presence in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Romania, positioning the group in 13 countries. This international growth occurs while the company maintains one of its main industrial transformation projects in Aragon: the decarbonization of the El Burgo de Ebro complex, where it plans to invest over 100 million euros to reduce natural gas consumption, improve energy efficiency, and enhance biomass utilization.
Both lines of action—external growth and the transformation of its production facilities—were part of the discussions during a visit by Eva Valle, the Counselor for Economy, Competitiveness, and Employment of the Aragon Government, to the El Burgo de Ebro plant. The regional official met with Saica’s chairwoman and CEO, Susana Alejandro, and other company executives to discuss issues related to industrial competitiveness, energy, and the infrastructure necessary to support new investments.
Over 100 million to transform the El Burgo de Ebro plant
The decarbonization project represents one of Saica’s largest recent investments in Aragon. This initiative encompasses six projects directly linked to the industrial complex and aims to reduce fossil CO₂ emissions by approximately 69,000 tons through efficiency improvements and reduced natural gas usage. Around 30 million euros of the planned investment will come from aid linked to the Industrial Decarbonization PERTE.
Biomass will play a significant role in this transformation. The company believes that its use can contribute not only to reducing the factory’s emissions but also to developing a supply chain linked to forestry and agricultural resources. Thus, the project establishes a connection between the modernization of a large industrial facility and the utilization of available resources in the territory.
Saica and the Aragon Government have also addressed the availability of electrical capacity as one of the factors that will condition industrial growth in the coming years. The expansion of major productive and technological projects is increasing the importance of having energy networks and infrastructure capable of supporting new investments.
From Zaragoza to an industrial structure in 13 countries
Saica’s evolution reflects the transformation of a company that began its activities in Zaragoza with six workers and now engages in businesses related to recycled paper for corrugated cardboard, packaging, flexible containers, waste management, and environmental services. The group closed 2025 with consolidated sales of 3.962 billion euros.
The recent acquisition of Thimm marks a new leap in this trajectory. The ten new facilities particularly strengthen Saica’s position in Central and Eastern Europe, expanding an industrial structure that already encompasses Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, the United States, Germany, Romania, and the Czech Republic.
For the company, the process of integrating the new centers and workers has now begun. Susana Alejandro has indicated that the operation ushers in a new phase to reinforce Saica’s position in the European market, combining the capabilities of both organizations while maintaining the trajectory that Thimm has developed thus far.
External growth coincides, therefore, with a new investment phase in Aragon. More than eight decades after its founding in Zaragoza, Saica combines an increasingly international industrial structure with projects aimed at transforming its original plants, a journey that has made it one of the most significant examples of internationalization of Aragonese companies.
