Closed Loop Partners Allocates Nearly $40 Million to U.S. Recycling Infrastructure Improvements in Past Decade

Closed Loop Partners has allocated $15 million toward municipal facility upgrades in the last year, according to the firm.

The financial support was facilitated through the Closed Loop Infrastructure Group within the firm's catalytic private credit arm, which has been instrumental in upgrading recycling infrastructure and services in the Midwest and Southeast regions of the country.

"As the circular economy grows in North America, the diverse group of stakeholders that are critical to its development, including local municipalities, often lack access to the funding needed to improve recycling services––an important step to achieve zero waste goals and advance a circular economy," Closed Loop stated.

The Closed Loop Infrastructure Group was established nearly a decade ago to support both public projects and private companies involved in advancing recycling initiatives. Over the years, the fund has grown in response to market demand, with four different funds investing in more than 45 projects so far. 

These investments range from new recycling carts and facility upgrades to innovative recycling technologies.  These initiatives have collected over 3 million materials which remain in circulation, preventing over 6 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. 

Municipalities across the U.S. have saved nearly $40 million through Closed Loop Infrastructure Group's financing in the past decade.

The Central Virginia Waste Management Authority (CVWMA) secured a loan of over $4 million from the Closed Loop Infrastructure Fund to purchase more than 90,000 95-gallon curbside recycling carts. In collaboration with The Recycling Partnership and Rehrig Pacific, three jurisdictions were able to upgrade from 24-gallon bins to 95-gallon carts.

In a decade-long relationship, Closed Loop and the Waste Commission of Scott County have progressed single-stream recycling and infrastructure advancements.  A multi-million dollar loan secured in 2022 through Closed Loop Infrastructure Fund, the Closed Loop Beverage Fund and Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund enabled Scott County to purchase new optical sorters and grow capacity. 

"The new loan will help grow the processing of valuable recyclable materials throughout the region, including polypropylene," Closed Loop indicated. "When installed, the equipment upgrades will provide more than 3.5 million pounds of additional capacity and allow for the recovery of an additional 900,000 pounds of materials each year."

Kansas City, Mo. received a $5 million loan through Closed Loop, allowing the municipality to purchase 162,000 new curbside recycling carts. This was achieved in collaboration with the American Beverage Association’s Every Bottle Back initiative, Missouri Beverage Association, The Recycling Partnership, Dow and Rehrig Pacific.

Closed Loop concluded, "The need for investments into recycling infrastructure is critical, given a misalignment between the volume of materials produced––from packaging to consumer products––and the infrastructure available to recover them, process them after use and return them to manufacturing supply chains. Over the last decade, the Closed Loop Infrastructure Fund laid the groundwork to solve this challenge. Moving forward, the four funds within the Closed Loop Infrastructure Group continue to deploy capital into projects that help strengthen the infrastructure needed to recover materials at their end-of-life, and increase the volume of quality recycled material to meet a growing demand for these materials and commitments toward a waste-free world."

Source: Closed Loop Partners