Netherlands-based Repeats Group B.V. - the name is an acronym for Recycled PE AT Scale - has secured a €100 million equity commitment from Ara Partners to build a new pan-European plastics recycling platform, the company announced 10 January. The platform will focus on using mechanical recycling to produce recycled low-density polyethylene flakes that are suitable for commercial and industrial applications. Repeats buys light plastic post-consumer industrial feedstock, uses optical sorters for an optimum sorting process, washes and then extrude the resin into flakes that are sold to converters.
initiative aims to scale LDPE recycling capacity throughout Europe to address the shortage of supply compared to the growing demand required to meet the EU’s industry sustainability and net zero targets.
Repeats and Ara Partners said that they are committed to building a leading LDPE recycling platform in Europe through a combination of greenfield development, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships, with operations focused on core European markets with underserved LDPE recycling capacity.
Ara Partners is a global private equity firm operating from offices in Boston, Massachusetts, Houston, Texas and Dublin that specialises in industrial decarbonisation investments. According to Katy Boettcher, a Vice President at Ara Partners, the new platform will have a meaningful impact on the markets it serves.
“Repeats has the opportunity to facilitate a material reduction in green house gas emissions through replacement of virgin plastic resin with recycled LDPE from its facilities,” she said.
Repeats is led by Greg Rung and a team of LDPE recycling executives who collectively have over 80 years of experience in the plastics recycling industry and who have developed strong relationships with the stakeholders driving growth in the European recycled LDPE resin market.
"The need for an effective, circular solution to the growing plastic waste problem is tremendous, and European businesses, consumers and governments are aligned in working towards higher utilization of recycled plastic," noted Rung. "We seek to partner with leading consumer packaged goods, petrochemical and plastic packaging manufacturing companies to create a high-quality supply source that is widely available throughout Europe.”