The Need: There is a misalignment between the amount of materials produced today––from packaging to consumer products––and the infrastructure available to recover them, process them after use and return them to manufacturing supply chains. Technological inefficiencies and outdated materials recovery facilities have resulted in bottlenecks across the recycling system. As a result, the current supply of recovered materials falls well short of demand, meanwhile consumers and companies are paying to dispose of millions of tons of valuable commodities every year, forever losing the opportunity to reclaim these materials and return them to productive use. Closed Loop Partners’ managed funds within the Closed Loop Infrastructure Group invest in solutions to help address these challenges.
The Solution: Closed Loop Partners’ Infrastructure Group is comprised of the Closed Loop Infrastructure Fund, Beverage Fund, Circular Plastics Fund and Local Recycling Fund. Across multiple funds, the Closed Loop Infrastructure Group provides a flexible mix of financing solutions (such as secured and unsecured loans and mezzanine debt) to support a range of circular economy projects, companies, infrastructure and enabling technologies. By deploying catalytic capital, which seeks to accelerate and de-risk the development of high-impact projects and companies, the Infrastructure Group is uniquely positioned to structure and attract additional forms of traditional financing to bolster infrastructure that supports a circular economy.
Each of the funds in the Infrastructure Group invest alongside one another to bridge existing financing gaps, scale solutions and build on synergies across the funds’ networks to scale circular economy infrastructure across North America. This is further bolstered by the work of Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy, ensuring that organizations across their network stay at the forefront of research and development on circular economy innovations.
Closed Loop Partners’ solutions-oriented mindset goes beyond simply providing capital. As a diverse team of waste and recycling industry experts and finance professionals with more than 200 years of combined experience, the team add substantial value to their portfolio organizations and investor base as advisors, connectors and enablers. With direct support from their team and borrower support groups, their partners have expanded into new markets, successfully incorporated transformational technologies, worked collaboratively to solve industry challenges, and accessed follow-on capital to continue growing.
By connecting borrowers with their investor network, Closed Loop Partners amplifies the success of projects, provides opportunities for feedstock and offtake relationships, and gives critical market signals for a project’s or technology’s viability.
Which of the Pact’s 4 Targets does your work help achieve? TARGET 3: Undertake ambitious actions to effectively recycle or compost 50% of plastic packaging by 2025
What makes it particularly smart or circular? Closed Loop Partners aims to build a circular economy supported by strong infrastructure that ensures all valuable materials––from plastics to paper, glass and aluminum––are recovered after use, kept in circulation and never go to waste.
Collectively funded by the world’s largest retailers, corporate foundations, industry associations, materials science and consumer goods companies, the Closed Loop Infrastructure Group finances scalable circular economy infrastructure and technologies––spanning the value chain from material collection, to processing and remanufacturing.
Results, Benefits, and Outcomes to Date: The Closed Loop Infrastructure Group has made significant progress across its funds.
For example, as of the end of the 2021 impact reporting period, one of its funds, the Infrastructure Fund impacted 2.5 million tons of materials, avoided 5.5 million tonnes of CO2e, spurred $242 million in co-investments, enabled $25.1 million in direct savings to municipalities and impacted 4 million households. Cumulatively, the Infrastructure Fund, through its investments, recovered over 200,000 tons of plastics and returned them to supply chains.
Quote: “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.” – Ron Gonen, Founder & CEO, Closed Loop Partners
Company/Organization Information: Closed Loop Partners was founded in 2014 and is based in New York. The Infrastructure Fund was launched in 2014 as the firm’s inaugural fund; the Beverage Fund in 2019 in partnership with the American Beverage Association; the Circular Plastics Fund in 2021; and the Local Recycling Fund in 2022 in partnership with PepsiCo Beverages North America. The four funds comprise the Closed Loop Infrastructure Group.
Additional Information: https://www.closedlooppartners.com/closed-loop-infrastructure-group/