Poland-based firm expands its position in the U.S. platinum group metals recycling market.

Elemental Holding Group has acquired Maryland Core Inc., a Baltimore-based buyer and recycler of catalytic converters, used auto parts and other automotive scrap materials, for $11 million. The transaction was conducted by Elemental Holding Group in cooperation with the Polish International Development Fund, managed by PFR TFI, and the Polish Development Bank.

“Thanks to our ambitious investment policy, we are strengthening our position in the global supply chain of economically strategic raw materials,” Krzysztof Spyra, a management board member of Elemental Holding, says.

Elemental Holding S.A. is based in Poland and invests in companies engaged in urban mining and recycling, according to its website, across four business lines: spent automotive catalyst, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), printed circuit boards and nonferrous scrap. The companies under the Environmental Holding umbrella operate in the European Union, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

The purchase of Maryland Core is the second investment Elemental Holding has made in the U.S. platinum group metals (PGM), which include platinum, palladium and rhodium, recycling market. In December 2019, the group purchased a controlling stake in PGM of Texas LLC, which has an extensive purchasing network in 11 locations across the United States, as well as a modern processing plant and chemical laboratory, the company says. Through organic growth and acquisitions in Europe, Asia and North America, Elemental Holding has increased its PGMs production volume from 42,000 troy ounces (1.25 tons) in 2016 to nearly 500,000 troy ounces (15 tons) in 2020.

“The integration of Maryland Core into the structure of the Elemental Holding Group is another important step in the implementation of our strategy,” Spyra says. “It envisages building the largest entity dealing with sourcing and green production of precious metals, including platinum group metals and copper group metals. As we integrate companies operating around the world, we invest in the latest technologies, thanks to which the production process is not only cost-effective but also optimal for the environment.”

Borcycle grades combine virgin PP with recycled material for use in automotive applications.

Borealis, a supplier of polyolefin materials for engineering applications in the automotive industry, has announced the availability of Borcycle in North America. The Vienna-based company, which has its U.S. production plant in Taylorsville, North Carolina, describes the product as a polyolefin-based solution composed of virgin and postconsumer resin (PCR) for use in the North American automotive market.

The Borcycle family of products is intended for use in interior, exterior and under-the-bonnet automotive applications and incorporate PCR for a lower environmental impact, the company says.

Originally developed by Borealis in Europe, ready-made PCR Borcycle grades combine virgin polypropylene with high-quality reclaimed materials. They are safe to use and provide a material performance and cost-efficiency equal to the performance and cost-efficiency of virgin materials, Borealis says.

Products in the Borcycle family are backed by a reliable supply chain and quality standards, according to the company, meaning automotive customers and partners can rely on a steady supply of Borcycle grades with consistently high quality.

KC Recycling has been awarded $852,000 from CleanBC Plastics Action Fund for the plant upgrade.

KC Recycling Ltd. has been awarded $852,000 from the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund to jumpstart a $1.2 million plant upgrade, which will create a circular solution to recycle the plastic cases on car batteries already processed at the operation in Trail, British Columbia.

According to a news release from KC Recycling, the company is renovating its facility to create a polypropylene (PP) extruding operation. The company says the operation will help to stimulate economic growth for the region.

“We’re thrilled our project meets the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund criteria to increase domestic recycling capacity as Canada makes changes to keep plastics out of the ocean and comply with the global Basel Convention,” says Pete Stamper, KC Recycling’s CEO. “The whole KC Recycling team is proud we’re expanding operations to enable production of finished recycled plastic and providing a real circular economy solution right here in the Kootenays. It aligns with our mission of preserving a sustainable world for future generations.”

KC Recycling says its expansion will “strengthen the region’s economy with the addition of five positions as the new facility comes online.” The plant will continue to recycle cathode-ray tube (CRT) glass from old televisions and monitors and electronic scrap while growing its car battery recycling operation with the addition of in-house plastic recycling.

“For every automotive battery processed at our facility, 4.5 percent of the inbound weight is composed of high-quality polypropylene plastic," says Dan Di Filippo, KC Recycling operating partner and director of business development. “With an annual automotive battery process rate of approximately 80 million pounds, we generate about 3.6 million pounds of regrind polypropylene plastic per year."

This unfinished plastic regrind is currently exported to PP compounders, where it is pelletized into product specifications that meet manufacturers’ requirements. KC Recycling says its new plant will localize this last step with an on-site washing, extrusion and pelletizing lab. KC Recycling will test the refined material to ensure it meets specs before shipping it to battery manufacturers where it is an input for new batteries.

“The Pacific Northwest is an underserved region for car battery recycling in the sense that there is not enough local recycling capacity, which results in higher export-rates for scrap batteries than in other regions,” Di Filippo says. “Hopefully, this improved closed-loop system will provide further incentive to recycle product domestically in North America; more product means more jobs as well as economic growth for the region. All-in-all there’s a good knock-on effect.”

Administered by the Alacrity Canada Cleantech Program in partnership with the British Columbian government, the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund seeks to bolster the region’s circular economy by reducing virgin plastics and making better use of postconsumer recycled plastic in manufacturing processes. KC Recycling serves as an ambassador for cleantech as they work toward economic recovery and resilience. With initial rollout focused on plastic car battery casings, the new polypropylene extruding operation also looks to accommodate other postconsumer plastic streams.

Dow, LyondellBasell and Nova Chemicals help to fund plastics recycling infrastructure.

Closed Loop Partners, New York, will manage a fund established by Dow, LyondellBasell and Nova Chemicals that will invest in scalable recycling technologies, equipment upgrades and infrastructure solutions.

The companies invested $25 million initially in the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund. The fund is seeking additional investments, with the goal of growing to $100 million, from businesses across the plastics value chain to help advance the recovery and recycling of plastics in the U.S. and Canada. At scale, the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund’s investments aim to recycle more than 500 million pounds of plastic over its lifetime, which will be 10 years, Closed Loop Partners Director of Communications and Strategic Initiatives Georgia Sherwin says.

According to Closed Loop Partners, the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund will invest in three strategic areas to increase the amount of recycled plastic available to meet the growing demand for recycled content in products and packaging: access, optimization and manufacturing.

The fund’s investments seek to increase collection of targeted polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plastics by advancing material collection systems, including transportation, logistics and recycling sortation technologies and infrastructure. It also seeks to upgrade recycling systems to more efficiently aggregate, classify and sort targeted plastics to increase the total amount of plastic, including food-grade and medical-grade plastic, sent for remanufacturing. Additionally, the fund will invest in facilities and equipment that manufacture finished products, packaging or related goods using recycled content.

The fund will deploy a flexible mix of debt and equity financing in the form of below-market-rate loans and will aim to stimulate mainstream co-investments, including those from financial institutions, Closed Loop Partners says. With established facilities, extensive supply chain networks and markets, Dow, LyondellBasell and Nova Chemicals are well-positioned to help advance the transition to a new, more circular system.

Sherwin says the minimum investment size will be $1 million, while the average investment period will range from three to five years, with the exception of bridge loans.

Those interested in applying for funding can do so at www.closedlooppartners.com/closed-loop-circular-plastics-fund-apply-for-funding. 

Closed Loop Partners says the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund will work closely with the company’s Closed Loop Infrastructure Fund and Closed Loop Beverage Fund as part of a broader Closed Loop Infrastructure Group that aims to bolster recovery infrastructure in North America. At the same time, the company’s Ventures Group will focus on upstream solutions, such as scaling reuse models and innovative new materials, to holistically address plastics waste. This requires consciously designing systems and products to use fewer materials, harnessing alternatives to plastics where appropriate, implementing circular business models such as refillable and reusable products and investing in recovery infrastructure, Closed Loop Partners says.

The performance of the Circular Plastics Fund will be benchmarked according to a combination of financial and impact outcomes, including tons of PE and PP diverted from landfill and tons of greenhouse gas emissions avoided or reduced, Sherwin says.

“The plastic resin manufacturers that create value for their shareholders now and in the future will be the ones that ensure that 100 percent of their products are safely recycled or reused, and never discarded in a landfill or elsewhere in our ecosystem,” Ron Gonen, founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners says. “We look forward to investing in sustainable infrastructure and innovations that enable and encourage other companies, including investors in the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund, to deploy significantly more of their own capital to further scale these critical solutions. Alongside championing scalable reusable packaging models and innovative new materials, growing recycling and circular economy infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada plays a critical role in eliminating plastic waste and reducing the need for the costly extraction of raw materials.”

According to Closed Loop Partners, the current supply of recycled plastics meets only 6 percent of demand for the most commonly used plastics in the U.S. and Canada. Increasing the recovery and recirculation of plastics could help meet an addressable market for plastics with potential revenue opportunities of $120 billion in the U.S. and Canada alone, the company adds.

“Dow is investing with Closed Loop Partners as another way to catalyze additional investment in recycling technology and infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada. Plastic materials are essential to a sustainable, low carbon economy and this fund, alongside other investments and collaborations we are engaged in, will help move society toward a circular economy, ensuring plastic is not lost to the environment,” says Jim Fitterling, chairman and CEO of Dow, Midland, Michigan. “But our commitment and capital alone are not enough to end plastic waste. We urge others, across all sectors of society, to join us and scale the technologies, partnerships and capital needed to build the circular plastics supply chains of the future.”

“Addressing the challenge of plastic waste in the environment requires collective action on multiple fronts,” Bob Patel, CEO of LyondellBasell, with U.S. operations based in Houston, says. “As a company, we have been executing a multipronged strategy that includes innovations in mechanical recycling, the advancement of molecular recycling technologies and the incorporation of renewable feedstocks into our manufacturing,” says. “In addition to our company’s efforts, further enhancements to recycling infrastructure are critical to capturing the value of used plastics and advancing the circular economy.” 

Luis Sierra, president and CEO of Canada-based Nova Chemicals, says, “Innovation is key to our collective success. If we can create plastic products that are easier to recycle, perform with less materials, incorporate more recycled content and invest in the recycling and recovery infrastructure, we will achieve a zero plastic waste future. We are ready to work across the value chain, developing new solutions that will shape a better tomorrow.”

Since its founding in 2014, Closed Loop Partners says its existing portfolio of more than 50 investments has diverted more than 4.6 billion pounds of material from landfills and back into manufacturing supply chains.

Green Bean Battery LLC has developed a proprietary hybrid battery reconditioning process that is said to create a more reliable battery while also extending its useful life.

Chicago-based automotive parts recycler LKQ Corp. has acquired the business and assets of Green Bean Battery LLC, Raleigh, North Carolina, a hybrid battery reconditioner and installer. Green Bean, established in 2015, has developed a proprietary hybrid battery reconditioning process that creates a more reliable battery while simultaneously extending its useful life, according to the news release LKQ issued regarding the acquisition. 

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Green Bean acquires hybrid battery cores from multiple sources, including LKQ, and reconditions them at its facilities across eight trading zones located throughout the United States. As a full-service provider, Green Bean installs its reconditioned batteries at its customers’ preferred locations in these trading zones. The only states Green Bean does not service are Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming, according to its website. Green Bean reconditions batteries for hybrid vehicles manufactured by Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Lexus and Nissan.