It has been reported that recently, Canadian clean tech company Loop Industries announced that it has secured €10 million in funding from Reed Société Générale Group, an investment company controlled by French bank Société Générale. This injection of capital marks an important step for Loop Industries in the commercialization of its PET recycling technology.
Now that Loop Industries has received funding from Reed, the company plans to use it for its PET recycling project in India and to meet operational cash flow needs. The project is a joint venture with Indian polyester manufacturer Ester Industries, and the partners plan to build a plant with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons to produce recycled dimethyl terephthalate (rDMT) and recycled monoethylene glycol (rMEG). The plant is expected to begin operations in 2027.
As part of the deal, Loop Industries has sold its first technology license. This license will grant Reed Société Générale Group, which will hold 90% of the shares, and Loop Industries, which will hold 10%, to a European partner. This collaboration will support the development of Loop Industries' Infinite Loop manufacturing plant in Europe, which aims to use Loop's patented technology to transform waste PET plastic and polyester fibers into high-value PET products.
It is worth noting that recently, Loop Industries released a financial report revealing that the company is facing financial difficulties, with cash flow likely to stagnate by the end of November. Back in January, Loop Industries was supposed to receive a large investment from Reed Management, a European investment company, with the transaction expected to be completed by the end of March. However, the funds did not arrive on time.
Not long ago, SK Geo Centric, a subsidiary of South Korean energy giant SK Innovation, terminated its plan to build a plastic recycling plant in France. This plant was a collaboration between SKGC, French waste management company Suez, and Canadian tech company Loop Industries, and was set to be built in Saint-Avold in northeastern France. However, due to the fact that the cost of producing recycled PET was double the market price, the project had to be paused.
The Loop depolymerization facility originally planned for Saint-Avold, France
Loop Industries uses a low-temperature, low-pressure process to depolymerize PET and polyester fibers into monoethylene glycol (MEG) and dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), which can then be polymerized back into their original forms.
Alcoholysis is typically divided into methanol alcoholysis, ethylene glycol alcoholysis, and polyol alcoholysis. Strictly speaking, alcoholysis using a monohydric alcohol as a solvent is called alcoholysis; alcoholysis using a diol or polyol as a solvent is referred to as glycolysis. The two most commercially mature depolymerization methods today are methanol alcoholysis and ethylene glycol alcoholysis.
Simply put, for example, with PET, when methanol is used as the solvent, under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions, waste PET can be depolymerized into dimethyl terephthalate, ethylene glycol, and some oligomers. When ethylene glycol is used as the solvent, it produces ethylene glycol terephthalate. The company claims that its Infinite Loop depolymerization technology allows PET and polyester fibers to be infinitely recycled without compromising quality. According to an independent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Loop's PET resin has a 79% lower global warming potential and a 67% lower primary energy demand compared to virgin PET.
According to upcoming European legislation, from 2025, PET bottles must contain at least 25% recycled content, and by 2030, this must increase to at least 30%. The European Association expects that, by then, high-quality recycled PET will be in short supply.
