Ara Partners Commits €100 Million to Launch Plastic Recycling Platform
Industrial decarbonization-focused private equity investor Ara Partners announced today it has made a €100 million commitment to Repeats Group B.V., which plans to build a pan-European plastics recycling platform focused on producing recycled low-density polyethylene (LDPE).
Katy Boettcher, Vice President at Ara Partners, said:
“Repeats has the opportunity to facilitate a material reduction in green house gas emissions through replacement of virgin plastic resin with recycled LDPE from its facilities. We believe that the platform will have a meaningful impact on the markets it serves.”
Repeats, which stands for Recycled PE AT Scale, transforms post-commercial plastic waste into resin suitable for commercial and industrial purposes. The firm is scaling LDPE recycling capacity across Europe to address the shortage of supply compared to the accelerating demand required to meet industry sustainability and net zero goals, increasing consumer preferences for low-carbon products, and the stricter regulatory requirements around decarbonization.
Tuan Tran, Partner at Ara Partners, said:
“The Repeats management team has the operational experience, strategic relationships, and drive to transform the European LDPE recycling market. They have an outstanding reputation in Europe and we are thrilled to partner with the Repeats team to build a pan-European recycling leader.”
Repeats and Ara Partners stated that they are committed to building a leading LDPE recycling platform in Europe through a combination of greenfield development, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships, with operations focused on core European markets with underserved LDPE recycling capacity.
Greg Rung, Repeats’ CEO, said:
“The need for an effective, circular solution to the growing plastic waste problem is tremendous, and European businesses, consumers and governments are aligned in working towards higher utilization of recycled plastic. We seek to partner with leading CPG (consumer packaged goods), petrochemical and plastic packaging manufacturing companies to create a high-quality supply source that is widely available throughout Europe. We are proud to partner with Ara, which shares this ambition and has expertise and resources to help achieve our objectives.”