Rotterdam-based Xycle, a chemical recycling company, has secured financing through a combination of equity investment from a consortium of investors; Dow, ING, Invest-NL (partly covered by InvestEU) and Vopak, and senior debt from Polestar Capital.
The Dutch company will use the funds to accelerate the construction of a flagship recycling facility, located in the Port of Rotterdam as a major international gateway to Europe.
Led by Arnd Thomas, the Dutch company aims to advance a circular economy for plastic through chemical recycling technology.
The company’s recycling technology uses low-temperature pyrolysis to break down hard-to-recycle plastic waste into pyrolysis oil.
This helps create more material for making new plastics.
This method allows plastic that would usually be thrown away or burned to be reused in valuable products like food packaging and parts for medical and automotive uses.
Dow, a major partner and expert in materials science, will buy this recycled material to create high-quality circular plastics, which are sought after by many global brands.
Stephanie Kalil, Commercial Vice President, EMEA, Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Dow says, “We are thrilled to announce this strategic investment in Xycle which marks another pivotal step towards our goal to transform the waste. The performance and efficiency of Xycle’s technology strongly complement our increasingly diverse global portfolio of recycling solutions. We believe that the robust financial backing and credibility of our investment partners demonstrates the strength of the opportunity at hand to scale advanced recycling technologies; to address the plastic waste challenge and meet growing customer demand for circular products.”
Xycle: 21,000 metric tons of plastic waste annually
The first commercial-scale plant of Xycle will be able to process 21,000 metric tons of plastic waste annually.
Located in the Port of Rotterdam, this chemical recycling facility will have access to the transportation of plastic waste into the plant and the distribution of pyrolysis oil from the plant to the off-take partners.
Existing petrochemical infrastructure, a network of nearby potential partners and suppliers, and access to other European markets also make Rotterdam an attractive location.
The site is expected to be fully operational by Q4 2026.
The modular layout of Xycle’s facilities allows production to scale up or down depending on demand, ensuring both flexibility and efficiency in operations.
In the future, Xycle plans to develop more chemical recycling facilities globally, utilizing larger reactor sizes to increase single plant capacity to 100,000 metric tons annually.
Arnd Thomas, CEO of Xycle says, “Our innovative chemical recycling technology offers a credible and scalable route to divert plastic waste from incineration, landfill, or our natural environment. Securing funding for the construction of our facility in the Port of Rotterdam marks an important step in developing and expanding our unique pyrolysis-based technology, which has been shown to deliver best-in-class pyrolysis yield for cracker feedstock. We are excited to work hand in hand with our investment partners – leveraging the strength of their expertise in their respective sectors – to fulfill the promise of our technology and accelerate a circular economy for plastics.”
