Look beyond negative sustainability newsflow – from Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle US clean-energy grants to BP’s fossil-fuel reversion1 – and it’s clear that innovation, capital deployment and commercial growth continue to drive the transition. This is evident in the value chain for a circular plastics industry, where multinational investment, advanced science and the allocation of private capital are scaling up new commercial solutions. Supporting this progress is sustained policy action, with negotiations for a legally binding, global treaty against plastic pollution set to resume at the INC 5.2 in Geneva this August.
In the latest issue of Plastic wrap, we cover the key deals, innovations and scientific and policy progress crucial to the rise of a circular plastics value chain.
Deals and investment
1. Unilever1 seeks Wild growth with acquisition
The consumer-goods conglomerate has announced plans to acquire personal care brand Wild in a GBP 230 mn deal. British company Wild was founded in 2019 as a direct-to-consumer business offering refillable, biodegradable deodorants, lip balms, body washes and hand soaps via its online store. It has grown rapidly: according to The Grocer, sales revenue leapt 77% year-on-year to almost GBP 47mn in 2023, and its UK deodorant sales volumes more than doubling in the first nine months of 20242.
Read also: Investing in a new model to cut plastic packaging
2.ExxonMobil1 targets USD 200 mn expansion of plastic recycling…
The oil major plans to add nearly 160,000 tonnes of advanced recycling capacity to facilities in Texas. The company will invest over USD 200mn to expand two sites in Beaumont and Baytown, with the new units expected to be operational in 2026. The move is part of a wider plan to add over 450,000 tonnes of advanced plastic recycling capacity across North America, Europe and Asia by 2027.
3. …as JV invests USD 135 mn in recycled feedstock facility
With its first Cyclyx Circularity Center (CCC1) in Houston, Texas due to start operations in 2025, post-use plastic-to-feedstock innovator Cyclyx has confirmed a second facility (CCC2) to be built in Fort Worth. A joint venture between plastic recycling technology company Agilyx, ExxonMobil and chemicals multinational LyondellBasell1, Cyclyx will invest USD 135 mn in the facility. It will have the capacity to produce around 136,000 tonnes of feedstock annually from plastic waste using mechanical and advanced recycling technologies.
4. Renewables-powered recycler gains seed funding
Biotech firm MacroCycle Technologies has raised USD 6.5mn in a seed funding round to commercialise its plastic-recycling technology. The firm uses its patented technology to convert plastic waste including bottles, food trays and polyester textiles into virgin-grade PET without breaking down polymers. Renewables power the process, which requires 80% less energy than traditional plastic recycling, the company claims.
5. Packaging startup completes first equity funding round
German high-tech materials firm IonKraft has raised EUR 3.5 mn in its first equity funding round. The firm’s patented ‘plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition’ process applies an ultra-thin, non-reactive, chemically inert coating to common packaging plastics. The aim is to help packaging producers for the food, pharma, cosmetics, and household and industrial chemicals sectors replace non-recyclable, multi-layer and fluorinated packaging with recyclable, non-contaminating alternatives.
in a recent webinar, we explored how innovation drives private-equity investment in plastics solutions. To watch the replay, click here.
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Corporate activity
1. California biotech achieves commercial scale for bio-based polymer
ZymoChem confirmed that it has successfully produced 45,000 litres of the key ingredient for its bio-based super-absorbent polymer (SAP). Each year, 4 mn tonnes of fossil-fuel based SAP are produced, with 90% used for disposable nappies and period pads in the USD 145 billion global hygiene market. ZymoChem aims to disrupt the global SAP market with its fully scalable, microplastic-free, drop-in replacement.
Read also: Private equity: investing in a sustainable alternative to microplastics
2. Recycled plastic packaging coming for Cadbury bars
Mondelēz International has partnered with Amcor1 to use around 600 tonnes of post-consumer recycled plastic per year in the wrappers of Cadbury’s sharing bars for the UK and Ireland market. Around 300 million bars per year will use packaging that will be 80% comprised of the recycled material, attributed through mass balance and International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC).
3. Bioplastic sorting hubs to launch across Europe
ReBioCycle, a joint undertaking between the European Union (EU) and the Bio-Based Industries Consortium, is set to launch three pioneering bioplastic recycling hubs in the Netherlands, Italy and Spain that aim to create a European blueprint for circular bioplastics upcycling. Funded with a EUR 7.5 mn grant under the Horizon Europe programme, the hubs will pilot advanced sorting technologies that can separate bio-based plastics from fossil-based plastics.
Read also: Plastic wrap: polymer-munching microbes, AI enhanced sorting
4. Food-robot maker partners for sustainable packaging
Circus, a manufacturer of robotised food preparation and serving installations – or ‘autonomous kitchen systems’ – has partnered globally with reusable packaging firm Vytal1 to launch a reusable bowl system for its CA-1 food-production robot. The new system will replace disposable paper bowls.
5. Coca-Cola1 drops reusable packaging pledge
The beverage giant is the latest big name to walk back on established sustainability targets. The company has quietly dropped pledges made earlier in the decade to reduce its use of virgin plastic and boost the use of reusable containers. Its "evolved" packaging strategy weakens recycling targets and instead focuses on water security, and reducing emissions and waste.
Science and reports
1. PET bottle recycling market predicted to boom 70% by 2034
The PET bottle recycling market will undergo stunning growth in the coming years, expanding from USD 7.3 bn in 2024 to around USD 12.5 bn by 2034, according to market research and consulting services firm Exactitude Consultancy. Growth will be driven by increased regulation, better technology and growing consumer demand, leading to higher collection rates and processing capacities.
2. Biopolymers derived from wastewater ready for production
A group of Danish researchers claim to have perfected a process to make sustainable materials from the millions of tonnes of wastewater produced globally each year. A study published in the scientific journal Current Opinion in Biotechnology sets out how bacteria from biomass collected at wastewater treatment plants can be turned into biopolymers as an alternative to fossil-fuel based chemicals.
3. Textiles targeted by Circle Economy
The latest Circularity Gap Report is aimed at reforming the global textile industry’s ‘too poor, too much, too cheap’ approach and halving its environmental footprint. It sets out strategies aimed at boosting recycling and making the industry three-times more circular.
Read also: Plastic wrap: private markets, public policy for circularity
Policy, regulation and disclosure
1. Green light for EUR 500 mn French scheme to boost plastics recycling
The European Commission has given the go ahead under EU competition rules for a French scheme to provide state aid to companies which recycle plastic waste. The scheme will provide direct grants of up to 40% of project costs for the recycling of mixed and/or contaminated plastic waste including trays, films, non-beverage bottles and textiles into ‘virgin-like’ raw materials. The Commission considers the ‘incentive effect’ of the scheme to be ‘necessary and appropriate’ for encouraging recycling.
2. Spain packaging rules extend beyond homes to business and industry
Spain has expanded its extended producer responsibility (EPR) rules, which previously only covered household packaging, to include commercial and industrial packaging. Under the new rules, packers, importers and online marketplaces will be obligated to finance the collection and management of their packaging waste through individual or collective systems. The new regulations include overall and material-specific recycling and collection targets, mandated deposit-return schemes for reusable containers, and marking requirements.
3. Trump to bring back single-use plastics
Saying that paper straws “don’t work”, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to buy plastic straws and relax rules on single-use items. The move reverses his predecessor’s policy of phasing out purchases of single-use plastics by federal agencies for food-service operations, events and packaging by 2027, and from all federal operations by 2035.
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