Innovative Houston plastics company scores $100M 'Green Loan' and prepares to scale
seeing green
Fueled by a new $100 million credit facility, a Houston-based company that specializes in plastics recycling is establishing a nationwide network of recycling plants.
Circulus Holdings secured the $100 million credit facility from Riverstone Credit Partners, which has an office in Houston. This "green" loan is aimed at supporting environmental sustainability.
David Hudson, founder and CEO of Circulus, says in a news release that the credit facility "enables Circulus to rapidly develop a broad network of facilities and further the company's commitment to sustainable manufacturing. We look forward to supporting green-based jobs and preserving our environment for future generations."
Circulus, a portfolio company of Houston-based private equity firm Ara Partners, recently opened its first plastics recycling facility. The 110,000-square-foot plant is in Riverbank, California, near Modesto. It employs 45 people. So far, other Circulus plants, each of which will be larger than the California facility, are planned for Alabama, Oklahoma, the Midwest, and the Northeast.
Circulus is building plants that will transform lower-grade plastic into post-consumer resin so that it's suitable for commercial and industrial uses.
Circulus says it is diverting plastic from landfills, incinerators, and oceans and "upcycling" it into products, including plastic bags and plastic wrap. Customers for those products include retailers, resin producers, packaging manufacturers, and makers of consumer packaged goods. The company says greenhouse gas emissions associated with production of its post-consumer resin are about 88 percent below that of virgin resin.
"Through our significant investment in infrastructure and commitment to manufacturing excellence, we are supporting green job creation and reinforcing the nation's global position in sustainable manufacturing," Hudson says in a news release.
Before Circulus, Hudson was an operating partner at Ara Partners.
Founded in 2019, Circulus employs a dozen people in Houston and plans to add workers here as its network of facilities expands. Circulus is set up as a public benefit LLC, a for-profit business that promotes a social benefit for the public.
Ara Partners invests in decarbonization-focused businesses in the manufacturing, chemicals and materials, energy, and food and agriculture sectors. Aside from Circulus, portfolio companies include Houston-based Path Environmental Technology, which provides a decarbonization-oriented industrial services platform for above-ground storage tanks, and Arlington-based Priority Power Management, an energy services provider whose priorities include carbon neutrality and smart energy.
Circulus is breaking into a plastics recycling market whose global size in 2020 was estimated at $39.9 billion, according to Imarc Group, a market research company. The firm projects the market will grow to $56.5 billion by 2026.
"The demand for plastic material has been constantly increasing across several industries like food and beverage, automotive, packaging, and healthcare. The development of these industries can be accredited to rising population, inflating disposable incomes, and continuous product innovations," Imarc Group says. "In this context, higher manufacturing cost of virgin resins has necessitated the use of recycled plastic products, thereby bolstering the growth of the global recycled plastics market."
Verified Market Research estimates the global market for post-consumer recycled plastics at nearly $15.2 billion in 2020 and forecasts it will rise to almost $22.4 billion by 2028.
"The products produced from these plastics close the loop by diverting them from landfills and enabling them to be recycled," Verified Market Research says. "The advantages of employing post-consumer plastics also assist in addressing … microplastics in the environment. Microplastics are originated from plastic waste that has been deposited into the environment."
