Montreal’s Loop Industries forms JV with Indorama Ventures for PET chemical recycling

Montreal-based Loop Industries Inc., which offers depolymerization technology that breaks down plastic molecules for reuse to make PET, has entered into a joint venture with petrochemical company Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd., of Bangkok, to manufacture and commercialize sustainable polyester resin to meet the growing global demand from beverage and consumer packaged goods companies.

Both companies have a 50 per cent stake in the joint venture.

The partnership combines Indorama Venture’s manufacturing footprint with Loop’s proprietary science and technology to produce recycled PET resin and polyester fibre. In a statement, the companies said the joint venture will have an exclusive worldwide license to use Loop’s technology, with plans to begin commercial production in the first quarter of 2020.

Loop was founded in 2015. the company’s depolymerization technology produces basic monomers dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and mono ethylene glycol (MEG) from end-of-life plastic feedstocks, which can then be put back together to produce PET.

“This joint venture combines each of our companies’ area of expertise so that we may both play a leading role in the global shift by business and consumers to the circular economy,” Daniel Solomita, founder and CEO of Loop Industries, said in the statement.