Infinity Recycling fund hits 100 million euros threshold

Infinity Recycling BV, the manager of a European capital fund that targets advanced or chemical plastics recycling technologies, says the recent closing of its Circular Plastics Fund I (CPF) means it now has garnered 105 million euros ($113 million) in committed capital.

Some of the most recent funding comes from the Luxembourg-based European Investment Fund (EIF) and Bangkok-based GC Ventures, with Infinity saying the backing “underscores the strong market confidence in Infinity Recycling’s vision and growth prospects.”

“Sustainability is key to our business operations and our commitments,” says Kamel Ramdani, senior vice president of Thailand-based PTTGC, with which GC Ventures is affiliated. “Applying the circular economy principle to closed-loop plastic waste management, recycling and upcycling is mandatory. This includes developing new solutions through innovation and their market impact to better meet peoples’ needs.”

“Demand for the use of recycled commodities in plastics production is on the rise, but only a few advanced plastics recycling technologies have been able to achieve commercial scale,” says Jeroen Kelder, managing partner at Infinity Recycling.

Bram Snijders of Infinity, speaking at the 2022 Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference Europe event, said as of that time, Infinity had made three investments, adding, “We target 10 to 12, so there is more to come.” Snijders said Infinity was “in dialogue” with about 100 such companies to find the remaining investment targets.

“While [chemical recycling] technologies are often viable, many companies lack the specialized financial structuring and business development skills required to scale up production, source high-quality inputs and establish supply agreements with offtake counterparties," Kelder says.

The Infinity CPF is a European Union Article 9 “dark green” impact fund under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. Infinity says its investments aim to accelerate the transition to a circular economy of plastics by scaling up advanced recycling technology companies with strong growth prospects that transform plastic scrap into primary commodities used to produce new plastics.

“The proportion of plastic packaging that is recycled is still far too low," says Marjut Falkstedt, chief executive of EIF.  "Our climate change and environmental sustainability challenge is a combination of many different issues, and the excessive use of plastics is a major factor. A lot can be achieved by changing our habits, but innovation is key to finding new ways of dealing with structural plastic use and making sure we use every piece of plastic as many times as possible.”

The CPF has been established in Luxembourg and is managed by Rotterdam-based fund manager Infinity Recycling BV.