EIF invests 50 million euros to support circular plastics

The European Investment Fund (EIF) has signed a 50 million euros participation in Infinity Recycling’s Circular Plastics Fund, a European impact fund that invests in companies developing new processes for the advanced recycling of plastics. The fund supports companies with scalable technologies that need financing for the industrial and commercial scale-up of their operations.

The Circular Plastics Fund has a target size of 150 million euros, a third of which is covered by the EIF's commitment. The transaction is supported by the InvestEU programme, which aims to mobilise over 372 billion euros in additional investment for EU policy priorities over the 2021-27 period, as well as by the European Investment Bank.

“The proportion of plastic packaging that is recycled is still far too low,” said EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt. “Our climate change and environmental sustainability challenge is a combination of many different issues, and the excessive use of plastics is a major factor. A lot can be achieved by changing our habits, but innovation is key to finding new ways of dealing with structural plastic use and making sure we use every piece of plastic as many times as possible. With the support of the InvestEU programme, we are very happy to be supporting this kind of innovation.”

“For most Europeans recycling is already an integral part of their daily lives. Establishing a true circular economy also requires industrial solutions that allow plastics to be recycled fully, efficiently and many times over,” commented Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius. “Today’s funding through InvestEU will help innovative European companies advance a circular plastics industry, acting as a booster for the EU’s green transition.”

“Demand for the use of recycled commodities in plastics production is on the rise, but only a few advanced plastics recycling technologies have been able to achieve commercial scale,” added Jeroen Kelder, Managing Partner at Infinity Recycling. “While these technologies are often viable, many companies lack the specialised financial structuring and business development skills required to scale up production, source high-quality inputs and establish supply agreements with offtake counterparties. We are thrilled by this investment from the EIF, which pushes our Circular Plastics Fund beyond the €105 million threshold and empowers us to accelerate circularity in the plastics industry through an impact-driven strategy.”