Closed Loop Partners Leads Consortium of Investors in Acquiring Sims Municipal Recycling (SMR)

The Closed Loop Leadership Fund, L.P., a New York City-based private investment fund managed by Closed Loop Partners (CLP), has led a consortium of investors, including the Partnership Fund for New York City, in acquiring a majority stake in Sims Municipal Recycling (SMR). The acquisition is expected to further modernize circular economy infrastructure and service in the New York-New Jersey Metro region and Florida, as well as expand SMR’s best-in-class operations into new markets.

SMR currently operates four recycling facilities across the New York–New Jersey metro region and Florida, including its Brooklyn materials recovery facility (MRF), which is the largest dual stream recycling facility in North America. SMR also manages the long-term New York City residential recycling contract, which is the largest municipal recycling contract in North America. The investment in SMR is expected to accelerate the recovery of valuable commodities, including plastics, paper, metal and glass, diverting them from landfills and returning them to manufacturing supply chains. In the coming years, SMR’s expansion is expected to create additional local jobs in the recycling and manufacturing sectors.

SMR’s board will become one of the first majority female-led boards in the industry, with Jessica Long, managing director at CLP as Chairperson of the Board. Said Long, “Closed Loop Partners’ ecosystem of investors––including strategic corporate partners like Nestlé, PepsiCo Beverages North America, Microsoft and Unilever, pension funds, family offices and foundations––are all interested in developing sustainable business models and markets for recycled content, keeping valuable materials out of landfill. This investment, coupled with the existing portfolio of Closed Loop Partners’ managed investment funds, will enable SMR to expand its services, accelerating the development of circular economy infrastructure in the United States.”

This investment is made possible by a group of investors, including investment funds managed by Closed Loop Partners, such as the Closed Loop Leadership Fund and the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund, as well as the Partnership Fund for New York City, among others. The Closed Loop Leadership Fund, CLPs’ managed buyout fund, includes investors Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Nestlé, PepsiCo Beverages North America and Unilever, alongside family offices, pension funds and foundations.

It also marks the first investment from the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund, CLPs’ catalytic flexible financing fund that launched in 2021, and includes investors Dow, LyondellBasell, Nova Chemicals, Sealed Air and SK Geo Centric Co., Ltd. CLPs’ Circular Plastics Fund finances technologies, companies and infrastructure projects that increase the quality and quantity of recycled PE and PP.  Together, these companies each have ambitious commitments to use recycled materials in their manufacturing supply chains, yet the current supply of recycled plastics meets only six percent of demand for the most commonly used plastics in the U.S. and Canada.

Said Diego Donoso, president of Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics, “When Dow joined the Circular Plastics Fund as an initial investor, we envisioned projects like the Sims Municipal Recycling acquisition. I know this is just the first of several significant projects that will grow and improve recycling infrastructure in the U.S. as a result of the Fund.”

Said Ken Lane, LyondellBasell’s executive v.p., global olefins & polyolefins, “Removing plastic waste from the environment is an essential contribution to society and future generations. LyondellBasell is proud to be a founding partner of Closed Loop Partners’ Circular Plastics Fund and is very pleased the fund’s first investment is Sims Municipal Recycling. Through this investment, we are moving another step closer toward achieving a circular economy.”

Said Nova Chemicals president & CEO Luis Sierra, “Nova Chemicals is excited to participate in the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund’s first investment in Sims Municipal Recycling. Together, we are committed to enabling the circular economy by finding ways to reuse plastics again and again. The Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund plays a powerful role in catalyzing capital, attracting more investors, and aligning companies across the plastics value chain so that together we can create a circular, waste-free system for plastics.”

“At Sealed Air, we understand the circularity of packaging is critical for our sustainability purpose, and we are excited about the potential of this investment in partnership with Closed Loop Partners and its managed funds. It’s critical that we grow recycling infrastructure so that we can recover more materials and loop them back into packaging supply chains,” said Sergio Pupkin, Sealed Air’s chief growth & strategy officer.