“Depolymerization has been around for 60 years and has never been commercially successful. It’s all because it uses high temperatures and pressures. It’s like slamming a plastic into pieces with a sledgehammer. ‘ he said.
By comparison, the loop process only requires a temperature of 85°C instead of the 280-300°C required by other methods. “These are very calm conditions,” Solomita said.
In May, Loop announced a five-year deal with Parisian food giant Danone SA to supply Loop ingredients to Danone brands, including Evian water. Solomita describes Evian as “the world’s first water his brand … an iconic brand that is sold in 100 countries, but all bottled in France … a brand that we wanted to work closely with. is,” he explained.
Nicolas Gregoire, Danone’s vice president of packaging, said in May that the company “needs cutting-edge technology like the one developed by Loop Industries to achieve its goals of sustainable packaging.” rice field.
“This contract is a natural next step in our partnership with Loop Industries, moving from technology development to concrete production phases,” he added. “Establishing an ‘infinite’ closed-loop recycling of PET bottles, enabling the recycling of difficult-to-recycle packaging and materials, is an important milestone. ”
Evian has an offtake agreement with Loop’s pilot facility in Becancourt, Quebec, to launch 100% recycled PET bottles first for the Korean market and then for other countries. Solomita said the bottle will use a “significant amount” of material from Loop’s Quebec location.
Evian and Danone are “great partners,” he added. “We’ve worked together for years. They’ve come to visit us, understand our technology, and study our environmental impact.”
Loop has expansion plans to open factories in Quebec, France and South Korea each with a capacity of about 150 million pounds of recycled products per year. We are working with the Canadian and French governments on plants in those countries.
South Korea’s SK Global Chemical Co. Ltd. has purchased a 10% stake in Loop for $56.5 million in mid-2021. The investment is being used to fund Loop’s factory in Becancourt. Officials said at the time that SK and Loop were planning to build four factories in Asia that could handle about 900 million pounds of waste annually.
“We want to expand rapidly and show governments how to solve the problem of plastic waste,” Solomita said.
A full-fledged Quebec factory is set to open in 2024, with factories in France and South Korea set to open in 2025. Solomita added that the United States is a “promising market” for Loop and the company is “considering several locations” there. South America too.
When asked about raw material supplies, Solomita said Loop will ensure raw materials are available before deciding on a project. He added that the company has more than 200 scrap suppliers in North America that have been tested and certified.
Responding to a question about the price of Loop’s final products, Solomiya said that the price of virgin PET resin fluctuates and that his company uses the Waste Plastics Index in its official pricing to “try to smooth the curve.” I did,’ he said.
“Our materials are premium products that are sold to virgins at a premium,” he added. You will never see a change in the
Solomita also said Loop is exploring ways to use its technology with resins other than PET, but that work is in the “early stages.”
Loops also face some challenges. In late 2020, Hindenburg Research LLC published a report it said was based on interviews with former Loop employees, legal records, and other investigations that questioned Loop’s technology.
Loop defended its technology at the time, saying Mr. Hindenburg’s accusations were inaccurate. Loop added that Hindenburg holds a short position in his Loop stock and that the report’s conclusions are either wrong or based on the first generation of his PET recycling technology.
Financially, Loop lost $44.9 million in the fiscal year ended February 28, 2022 after losing $36.3 million in the prior fiscal year. The company posted his $18 million loss in the quarter ended May 31. In the same quarter of 2021, he lost $12.3 million. On Wall Street, Loop’s stock will start at around $13 a share in 2022, while in early trading he was near $5.20. September 21st.
In January, Loop and French environmental services company Suez paid €1.3 million ($1.28 million) to purchase a 130,000-square-meter property in Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine. There, their joint venture will build Loop’s first Infinite Loop manufacturing facility for Europe.
The joint venture will spend €250 million ($247.6 million) on the project, which will create 180 manufacturing and engineering jobs. Construction of the facility is scheduled to begin in 2023, with production starting approximately 18 months later. The French government is supporting his JV in this project.
“We are delighted that this new facility will benefit France’s strong packaging ecosystem,” said Minister Agnès Panier-Lunacher in a news release. [and] It will contribute to our country’s transition towards a more sustainable low-carbon economy. ”