Recycling Technologies has received financial backing to the tune of €5 million from renewable solutions company Neste, and another €5 million from Mirova, a pioneer impact investor in the natural capital space and an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers.
Mirova has made the investment through the Althelia Sustainable Ocean Fund, underscoring that fund’s specific mission to finance scalable and impact-aligned businesses that provide innovative solutions to protect and restore the oceans.
The investment, said Recycling Technologies, provides the capital to start building Recycling Technologies’ first commercial RT7000 machine in Scotland.
Recycling Technologies’ RT7000 has been developed as a modular and scalable unit for easy integration into mechanical recycling facilities that will chemically convert plastic waste, which currently cannot be recycled, into a proprietary hydrocarbon product called Plaxx.
The RT7000 makes it possible to recycle plastic waste that is currently landfilled or incinerated. The modular and easily transported units mean that this can be done locally at current recycling facilities, rather than separately transporting the waste to a central location for processing.
The output of the machine – Plaxx - is a recycled hydrocarbon feedstock suitable for the manufacture of new virgin quality plastics. The RT7000 produces two fractions of Plaxx: a solid one, equivalent to wax, that can be used in packaging, cosmetics, and other applications and a liquid one, equivalent to oil, for use in plastics production.
The deal complements the other partnerships established with other forerunner companies within the plastics value chain, said Neste, who, in addition to investing has also signed a joint technology development agreement and a Plaxx offtake agreement with Recycling Technologies.
This will bring Neste’s know-how and extensive expertise in dealing with low-quality waste and residue raw materials into the collaboration and provide a defined market route for Plaxx into recycled plastic. The investment follows Neste’s recent announcement on its aim to process over 1 million tonnes of waste plastic annually from 2030 onwards in order to introduce it as a raw material for chemicals and new plastics.