Circular economy fund invests in Thai polyolefins recycler

Circulate Capital, a circular economy investment management firm in high-growth markets, announced a new strategic investment in Union J.Plus, a Thai polyolefins recycler.

Supported by Circulate Capital’s investment, the company will significantly increase its recycling capacity and strengthen its supply chain. When fully operational, it expects its total recycling capacity to exceed 30,000 TPA, including 20,000 TPA of premium/food-grade polyolefins.

New strategic investment is applied to Union J.Plus for recycling.

Circulate Capital’s first in Thailand

This strategic investment also marks Circulate Capital’s first venture in Thailand, expanding its recycling portfolio and demonstrating its continued commitment to create local supply chains for high-quality recycled plastics.

“We will catalyze systems change across high-growth markets in the region by taking this full value chain approach to our investments. We’re proud to support UJP as a key player in transforming Thailand’s recycling supply chain by facilitating its scale-up,” said Rob Kaplan, Founder and CEO of Circulate Capital.

Strengthening recycling capability in Thailand

In Thailand alone, around two million tons of plastic waste is generated annually, of which only a quarter is recycled. Research estimated the country loses up to US$4 billion annually when plastics are discarded rather than recycled into valuable materials.

Comparatively, adopting a circular economy can unlock as much as US$1.6 billion in cost savings and additional revenue for Thailand’s private sector.

The new capital will strengthen Union J.Plus’ operations and accelerate its scale-up through both organic growth and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), starting with the acquisition of an existing 18,000 TPA capacity low-density polyethylene (LDPE) recycling facility located in Samut Prakan.