Plastics

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Closed Loop Fund invests in PureCycle Technologies

Closed Loop Fund, a New York City-based investment fund that finances recycling infrastructure and circular supply chains, has announced its investment in PureCycle Technologies, a southern Ohio-based company that produces recycled polypropylene (PP) with virgin-like properties.

PureCycle’s technology could help increase recycling of contaminated and colored PP streams into higher-value applications, Closed Loop Fund says. The investment will help launch its first facility in Ironton, Ohio.

Ron Gonen, CEO of Closed Loop Fund, says, “Our goal is to build circular supply chains. Our CPG (consumer packaged goods) partners want postconsumer recycled PP, but we need technologies like PureCycle’s to ensure enough material is available at the specifications brands need. We anticipate significant market opportunity for PureCycle.”

PureCycle’s Ironton facility will open amidst challenging markets for many postconsumer recyclables, offering U.S. municipalities and material recovery facilities (MRFs) a domestic customer in the Midwest, Closed Loop Fund says.

Once operational, the plant is expected to consume postconsumer mixed rigid plastics from material recovery facilities (MRFs) in addition to postindustrial scrap. At scale, PureCycle will have the capacity to process more than 105 million pounds of PP each year.

“Until now, recycled PP had limited applications,” Mike Otworth, CEO of Pure- Cycle Technologies, says. “We’re single-handedly removing those limitations and giving companies the choice to use more sustainable, recycled resins.”