Recycling and reuse company Circular Service has announced news of an investment by six leading companies to invest in scaling circular economy infrastructures.
Microsoft, Nestlé, PepsiCo, SK Group, Starbucks and Unilever are all joining renewable energy company Brookfield Renewable as investors in Circular services, with the commitment reaching nearly a billion dollars.
Managed by Closed Loop Partners, Circular Services is said to be the largest privately held recycling company in the US that focuses on a wide range of recycled commodities. The company owns and operates facilities across the US and is seeking to help local authorities and businesses reduce costs associated with landfill disposal while ensuring materials are recycled and reused in the domestic supply chain.
Circular Services says that the investors are collectively demonstrating the power of both collaboration and targeted investments to accelerate the transition from a linear to a circular economy.
Starbucks chief sustainability officer Michael Kobori said: “Now is the time for bold action to transform the recycling infrastructure in the US. Starbucks is excited to join with Microsoft, Nestlé, PepsiCo, SK Group, Unilever, Brookfield, and the Partnership Fund for New York City to help generate nearly a billion dollar investment in Circular Services.
“This builds upon our long-standing work with Closed Loop Partners, whose NextGen Consortium has made significant strides in advancing sustainable packaging, including bringing hot cup recycling to more communities.”
Circular Services says that globally businesses are committing to increased recycled content and waste reduction goals.
Closed Loop Partners chief strategy officer Jessica Long said that expanding access to recycling and reuse services will enable cities and businesses to achieve their sustainability goals and avoid the costs of landfilling.
Long said: “Circular Services continues its work to accelerate a circular economy, an economic system that invests in the continual use of materials, reduces the reliance on natural resource extraction and landfills, and advances a waste-free future.”
The calls for global infrastructure investment have come from across the globe. Packaging Gateway recently reported that waste collection and recycling company Stichting Afvalfonds Verpakkingen (The Waste Fund Packaging Foundation) has published a new plastic guide that called for infrastructure changes.
A senior analyst at GlobalData exclusively told Packaging Gateway: “The inclusion of major consumer companies such as Microsoft, Nestlé, PepsiCo, SK Group, Starbucks and Unilever in Closed Loop Partners’ Circular Service, is a significant milestone in the development of a more circular economy in the US, where recycling and return rates for many packaging materials have lagged behind those in Europe.
“This initiative should help ensure there is a larger and more stable supply of recycled polymers in the country which are increasingly in high demand in spite of their usual price premium. The development is another clear indication of the global shift from linear to circular economies with a stronger emphasis on ‘closing the loop’, reducing or eliminating landfill and exploiting the intrinsic value in post-consumer waste.”
