Neste, the world's leading supplier of renewable diesel, renewable aircraft fuel and an expert in drop-in solutions for renewable chemicals, and Mirova, an innovative impact investor in natural capital and a subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers, today announce a €10 million joint investment in Recycling Technologies Ltd ("Recycling Technologies"), a specialist in plastics recycling technology. The aim is to accelerate the development of chemical recycling processes and promote the transition to a closed loop plastics economy.
This investment, consisting of €5 million from Neste and €5 million from Mirova through the Althelia Sustainable Ocean Fund*, provides the necessary capital to build Recycling Technologies' first commercial RT7000 plant in Scotland. The scalable, patented RT7000 technology processes mixed plastic waste into waxes and petrochemical feedstocks with the brand name Plaxx®, which are then used to produce new plastics. It enables value to be created from plastic waste that is currently difficult or impossible to recycle by mechanical recycling and is disposed of by landfill, incineration or export.
In addition to the investment, Neste signs a cooperation agreement with Recycling Technologies for technology development and a purchase agreement for Plaxx®. This will bring Neste's know-how and extensive expertise in handling low-grade waste and residual materials into the collaboration with the aim of accelerating the use of chemical recycling processes in Europe. The investment follows Neste's recent announcement to process more than one million tonnes of plastic waste annually from 2030 onwards, in order to reuse it as a raw material for chemicals and new plastics.
The Althelia Sustainable Ocean Fund's investment in Recycling Technologies underscores the Fund's mission to finance scalable and impact-driven businesses that provide innovative solutions to protect and regenerate the oceans. The RT7000 plant is uniquely suited to address the problem of plastic waste in Europe, other developed and developing countries in line with Recycling Technologies' goal of establishing projects in these regions.
"Neste is committed to developing solutions to accelerate the recycling of plastics. By working with Recycling Technologies, we can accelerate the development of a very promising chemical recycling technology and complement the partnerships we have already established with other pioneers in the plastics value chain. Together we are rapidly developing scalable chemical recycling solutions to the global problem of plastic waste," said Mercedes Alonso, Executive Vice President, Renewable Polymers and Chemicals at Neste.
"Every year, more than eight million tons of plastic ends up in our oceans. We are therefore delighted to support Recycling Technologies, an innovative company that offers sustainable solutions for plastics. Adding value by recycling plastic waste is a necessary step to reduce the pollution of the seas by plastics. The RT7000 plant provides a solution for both developed and developing countries to quickly tackle plastics recycling," added Simon Dent, Blue Investment Director at Mirova Natural Capital.
"We are delighted to secure this important investment from Neste and Mirova, two leaders in renewable products and sustainable investment. This demonstrates the value and vision of industry and finance in jointly developing strategic, profitable plastic waste recycling solutions. Mirova's expertise as a pioneer in many aspects of sustainable financing supports Recycling Technologies' plans to provide a long-term solution for plastic waste. Neste's investment, technical capabilities and commitment to developing recycling capacity provides Plaxx® with a valuable and defined route to market recycled plastic. One of our objectives is to support the UK Plastics Pact in achieving its ambition of an average of 30% recycled content in all packaging by 2025. This can be achieved by combining existing mechanical technology with new scalable chemical recycling processes," said Adrian Griffiths, CEO & Founder, Recycling Technologies Ltd.
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