LyondellBasell, an international plastics, chemical, and refining company, will invest in the Circular Plastics Fund led by global venture fund Infinity Recycling.
“We aim to help catalyze an additional $5 from co-investors for every dollar we invest in venture funds focused on the recovery and recycling of plastic waste,” says Yvonne van der Laan, director of olefins and optimization at LyondellBasell.
The amount of its initial investment was not disclosed. But LyondellBasell says its investment will “support early-stage companies deploying and developing advanced recycling technologies with a focus on bringing these technologies to scale in Europe.”
In 2021, LyondellBasell was a founding investor in Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund, which is focused on accelerating infrastructure development and advanced technologies needed to increase the recovery of plastic waste in North America.
The company says it is focusing on mechanical recycling, advanced (molecular) recycling and the use of renewable-based feedstocks in its conventional production processes. It says it intends to produce and market 2 million metric tons of recycled and renewable-based polymers annually by 2030.
Infinity Recycling’s Circular Plastics Fund intends to invest in advanced recycling technologies (pyrolysis, depolymerization, solvolysis, gasification), which convert end-of-life plastic waste back into valuable commodities, such as oil, solvent, polymers, monomers, naphtha, and syngas. These commodities can be used as virgin-grade feedstock for new products. Transforming waste into commodities enables a circular economy and generates significant, measurable financial and environmental returns, the company says.
The up to EUR 150 million fund will invest in 12–18 proven advanced recycling technologies that can operate profitably, it says.