Borealis buys controlling stake in recycler Renasci

Renasci’s plant in Oostende, Belgium. Photo Credit: Borealis/Renasci

Material supplier Borealis has acquired a majority shareholding in Renasci NV, a Belgium-based recycling company that created the Smart Chain Processing (SCP) concept.

The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The acquisition follows Borealis’ initial 10 per cent investment in the company, which was announced in July 2021. The present acquisition increases that holding to 50.01 per cent.

In a Jan. 12 news release, officials with Vienna, Austria-based Borealis described the latest investment as “an important component of [its] strategy to reach its ambitious circular goals, which target a six-fold increase in the volume of circular products and solutions to 600 kilotonnes by 2025, rising to 1.8 million tonnes by 2030.” The acquisition will support these goals by providing increasing long-term access to chemically recycled feedstock from Renasci’s Ostend facility and through enabling access to circular technologies.

The investment will provide Borealis with an additional supply of the chemically recycled feedstock it requires to produce its Borcycle C portfolio of mass-balanced virgin-level grade recycled products, the release said, as well as access to key circular technologies.

“With this investment, we mark another milestone on our path to realizing our Strategy 2030 goals,” Borealis CEO Thomas Gangl said.

Renasci’s SCP concept is a proprietary method of maximizing material recovery in order to achieve zero waste. Borealis describes it as being unique because it enables the processing of multiple waste streams using different recycling technologies under one roof, resulting in high valorization of waste. “The process offers a totally new approach to waste processing by converting plastic containing waste streams such as demolition waste and specific household waste streams into usable end products, instead of sending them to landfill,” the release said. “In this way, Renasci contributes to a sustainable solution for the global waste problem.”

“Through leveraging its market access, know-how, and innovative technological capabilities, [we] will accelerate the implementation of the SCP concept and will also explore opportunities for replicating the model in strategic locations,” the release added.