Dow Chemical, LyondellBasell, Novartis Jointly Launch Investment Recovery Fund

Three resin makers and Closed Loop Partnership (CLP) said on May 26 that they will launch a $100 million investment fund to fund the recovery and recycling of PE and PP in the U.
S.
and Canada
.

Dow Chemical, LyondellBasell and Nova Chemicals have raised a combined $25 million to launch the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund, which they say they hope to use with funding from other corporate and financial investors to grow the fund to $100 million
.

The group's goal is to fund projects that recycle more than 500 million pounds of post-consumer and post-industrial plastic over a 10-year period
.

The fund will focus on three areas: increasing collection opportunities; optimizing recycling systems for "high-quality" plastics such as food-grade and medical-grade materials; and investing in manufacturing that uses recycled plastics
.

Due to bottlenecks, inconsistent policies and outdated equipment, the group said the current supply of recycled plastic only meets 6% of the demand for the most commonly used resin in the U.
S.
and Canada
.

Ron Gonen, founder and chief executive of CLP, said he hoped the fund would encourage plastics companies to "significantly increase their own capital to further scale these critical solutions"
.

Gonen said: “The plastic resin manufacturers who create value for their shareholders now and in the future will be those who ensure that 100% of their products are recycled or reused safely and never end up in landfills or other parts of our ecosystem.
local manufacturers
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In its announcement, CLP said the new fund is in line with other work it has funded to build more recycling of plastics, including scalable reusable packaging models and the development of new materials to reduce "expensive raw material extraction"
.

New York-based CLP is raising capital to invest in projects, products and infrastructure to build more circular economy models on different materials
.

The three founding companies of the plastics fund have urged other companies in the industry to make financial commitments, saying more joint work is needed to boost recycling infrastructure
.

“In addition to our company’s own efforts, further strengthening of recycling infrastructure is critical to capturing the value of waste plastics and advancing a circular economy,” said LyondellBasell CEO Bob Patel.
The plastic waste challenge translates into a sustainable business opportunity
.
”

Georgia Sherwin, director of communications and strategic initiatives at CLP, said the Plastics Fund will work closely with its Closed-Loop Infrastructure Fund and Closed-Loop Beverage Fund
.

She said the Plastics Fund was unique in that its investment objective was to reintroduce recycled PE and PP into supply chains in manufacturing, including soft plastics
.

Sherwin said the company would also take a "flexible, risk-tolerant" approach in an attempt to stimulate investment from more mainstream sources of capital
.
The involvement of large resin manufacturers is for scale and supply chain network, she noted
.

"Given their existing knowledge, expertise, infrastructure and capital, we need a green transition for the industry," she said
.

Luis Serra, president and CEO of Nova Chemicals, said he sees the fund as part of a change in the way plastics are used
.

"If we can create plastic products that are easier to recycle, produce with less material, incorporate more recycled content and invest in recycling and reuse infrastructure, we will achieve a zero plastic waste," he said.
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