Chemical, plastics and materials sciences companies Dow, LyondellBasell and NOVA Chemicals announced today the launch of the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund, aiming to invest in circular plastics solutions including scalable recycling technologies, equipment upgrades and infrastructure solutions.
Jim Fitterling, Chairman and CEO of Dow, said:
“Dow is investing with Closed Loop Partners as another way to catalyze additional investment in recycling technology and infrastructure in the U.S. & Canada. Plastic materials are essential to a sustainable, low carbon economy and this fund, alongside other investments and collaborations we are engaged in, will help move society toward a circular economy, ensuring plastic is not lost to the environment. But our commitment and capital alone are not enough to end plastic waste. We urge others, across all sectors of society, to join us and scale the technologies, partnerships and capital needed to build the circular plastics supply chains of the future.”
The new fund will invest in three strategic areas to increase the amount of recycled plastic available to meet the growing demand for high-quality, recycled content in products and packaging, including “Access,” “Optimization,” and “Manufacturing.” Investments in these areas are expected to increase the collection of targeted polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plastics by advancing current and next-generation material collection systems, including transportation, logistics and recycling sortation technologies and infrastructure, upgrade recycling systems to more efficiently aggregate, classify and sort the targeted plastics to increase the total amount of high-quality plastic, including food-grade and medical-grade plastic, sent for remanufacturing, and to invest in facilities and equipment that manufacture finished products, packaging or related goods using recycled content, including recycled PE and PP.
Overall, the Fund’s investments aim to recycle over 500 million pounds of plastic over the Fund’s lifespan.
Bob Patel, CEO of LyondellBasell, said:
“Addressing the challenge of plastic waste in the environment requires collective action on multiple fronts. As a company, we have been executing a multi-pronged strategy that includes innovations in mechanical recycling, the advancement of molecular recycling technologies and the incorporation of renewable feedstocks into our manufacturing. In addition to our company’s efforts, further enhancements to recycling infrastructure are critical to capturing the value of used plastics and advancing the circular economy. We believe successful joint investment can transform the challenges of plastic waste into sustainable business opportunities.”
Luis Sierra, President and CEO of NOVA Chemicals, added:
“NOVA Chemicals is eager to join forces with industry leaders who share our same commitment to building a circular economy for plastics. Innovation is key to our collective success. If we can create plastic products that are easier to recycle, perform with less materials, incorporate more recycled content and invest in the recycling and recovery infrastructure, we will achieve a zero plastic waste future. We are ready to work across the value chain, developing new solutions that will shape a better tomorrow.”
The fund will be managed by circular economy-focused investment firm Closed Loop Partners. Kicking off with an initial $25 million commitment, the fund aims to grow to deploy $100 million, through a combination of the Fund’s founding investors, additional corporate investors and financial institutions, in order to attract additional capital.
Ron Gonen, Founder & CEO of Closed Loop Partners, said:
“The plastic resin manufacturers that create value for their shareholders now and in the future will be the ones that ensure that 100% of their products are safely recycled or reused, and never discarded in a landfill or elsewhere in our ecosystem. We look forward to investing in sustainable infrastructure and innovations that enable and encourage other companies, including investors in the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund, to deploy significantly more of their own capital to further scale these critical solutions. Alongside championing scalable reusable packaging models and innovative new materials, growing recycling and circular economy infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada plays a critical role in eliminating plastic waste and reducing the need for the costly extraction of raw materials.”
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