Sumitomo Mitsui Banking invests $10M in Closed Loop’s Circular Plastics Fund

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), a Japanese multinational banking and financial services institution, has invested $10 million in Closed Loop Partners’ Circular Plastics Fund. The investment partnership aims to advance the recovery and recycling of rigid and flexible polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in the United States and Canada.

Closed Loop’s Circular Plastics Fund focuses on reducing, reusing and recycling PE, PP and flexible plastics. The fund provides catalytic debt and equity financing, spurring additional mainstream investments into recovery and recycling solutions and infrastructure that can help address bottlenecks in the recycling system. Fund performance is benchmarked according to a combination of financial and impact outcomes, including tons of PE and PP impacted as well as tons of greenhouse gas emissions avoided or reduced.

With its investment, SMBC joins a group of leading corporate investors dedicated to the transition to a more circular economy for plastics, including Dow, LyondellBasell, Nova Chemicals, Charter Next Generation, Chevron Phillips Chemical, SK geo centric Co. and SEE. According to Closed Loop Partners, this collaborative effort is key to advancing the recovery and recycling of plastics in the U.S. and Canada at scale.

RELATED: Closed Loop Partners launches Circular Plastics Fund

“SMBC is committed to sustainability, while identifying partnerships that leverage our expertise and strong footprint in the Japan and Asia Pacific region. Our team is proud to partner in the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund’s catalytic, impact-first effort to accelerate infrastructure, equipment, municipal services, as well as innovation and enabling technologies related to flexible films and specific plastic types,” says Masayuki Takanashi, group chief sustainability officer of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. “Our commitment and partnership with Closed Loop Partners are part of SMBC’s steadfast commitment to our stakeholders, our local and international communities, the global environment and the next generation.”

According to a news release from Closed Loop Partners, the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund has made several catalytic debt and equity investments to both private companies and public organizations since its launch in 2021. Projects the fund has invested include:

• equity investment in Greyparrot, an artificial intelligence waste analytics platform that links to moving conveyor belts in sorting facilities to increase transparency and automation in recycling;
• loan to Myplas USA, a recycling company building a 170,000-square-foot plastic films recycling plant in Minnesota that aims to process 45,000 tons of plastic per year at full capacity;
• equity investment in Closed Loop's Circular Services business, which is a large privately held recycling and reuse company that has major municipal and commercial contracts; and
• follow-on loan to the Waste Commission of Scott County, a solid waste district in Iowa, to finance the purchase of new optical sorters for the county’s existing material recovery facility.

“The Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund is a specialty strategy within our Closed Loop Infrastructure Group. SMBC joins our corporate partners, portfolio companies, subject matter experts and experienced Closed Loop Partners team to enhance the ecosystem effect that bolsters our private credit and equity solutions,” says Jennifer Louie, head of the Closed Loop Infrastructure Group at Closed Loop Partners. “These solutions can help catalyze additional financial participation––accelerating the projects, infrastructure and innovations needed to close the loop on plastics.”

SMBC is an investor in the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund. No material conflicts of interest are present as this entity did not receive any compensation for their comments.