Strategic growth ambitions ensure the acquisition of a majority stake in Recycling Holding Volendam B.V. activities.

Kras Recycling B.V. in Volendam, a leading waste collector and sorter, and plastics recycler in the Netherlands, announced on Friday November 11^th that it will sell 60% of its shares to SCG Chemicals or SCGC, one of the largest integrated global petrochemical companies and a key industry leader in developing circular solutions. The collaboration is a strategic choice to secure the future of the family business.

A strong focus on quality, service and transparency has made Kras a top player in the European recycling market. These characteristic family values serve as the foundation for the strategic cooperation in further developing the Kras network of full cycle of waste collection, classification, regeneration and reuse, from now on in a joint venture with SCG Chemicals, part of the Siam Cement Group of Thailand. This investment is linked to SCGC’s Green Polymer growth pillar. Efforts are to be integrated into the recycling value chain that is an end-to-end ecosystem, from waste collector, plastic recyclers, and eventually to converters and brand owners in Europe.

Moving towards a circular economy
Ben Kras CEO: “Europe is facing enormous challenges and is moving fast towards changes in moving from a linear economy to a much more circular economy. This requires a lot from the business community, including from companies like Kras.” In the coming years, even more plastic must be recycled to achieve the challenging targets. Investments are necessary and entering this partnerships is vital to our long term vision.

Mechanical recycling alone is no longer sufficient to process the large volumes of plastic waste. In addition, innovations, such as chemical recycling, are needed to preserve the plastics that are difficult to recycle and re-use them as raw materials. An integrated approach is therefore required.

Tanawong Areeratchakul, CEO and President of SCG Chemicals or SCGC, said, “SCGC aims to grow the sales of Green Polymer portfolio to one million tons per year by 2030. This year, we have expanded our investment in the upstream business, which entails the collecting and sorting of plastic waste, a crucial aspect of the recycled polymer manufacturing business that is directly related to the growth of the green polymer products.

The investment in Kras will result in a fully integrated recycling business chain that encompasses plastic waste collection, recycling, processing, and reaching European brand owners and customers, in line with SCGC’s strategy to encourage continued growth into Chemicals Business for Sustainability.”

SCGC is committed to grow in Europe and will put forward its expertise in polymers, technology, and innovation, making it possible to realize this increase in scale together with Kras. Together we close the chain of producer, waste collector and recycler. In the coming years we expect to invest more in innovation and recycling capacity, starting with the expansion of Reks LLC, our own recycling factory in Kosovo.” More steps will be taken in the following years. Further, partnerships with leading European producers will be explored and further developed through our subsidiary Circular Plastics, enabling the new partnership to achieve its ambitious growth targets.

About Kras

Kras currently poses ability to competitively source 160,000 ton of plastic waste per year, 120,000 ton of paper and cardboard waste per year and 16.000 ton of raw material. In addition, Kras has a 75% stake in REKS LLC (Kosovo), a polymers recycler, with capacity of 9,000 ton/year and to be doubled within 2023, and also a 20.67% stake in Circular Plastics BV (Netherlands) which offers sustainable circular packaging and transport solutions.

Kras plays an important part in paper, cardboard, and plastic recycling in the Netherlands and Belgium. The raw materials are sold worldwide, but Europe is the largest sales market. SCGC is the missing link in the chain to maintain its current strong position in Europe and at the same time realizing its great ambitions. “It is precisely now that we must look ahead and dare to take big steps. This collaboration creates enormous potential. We see the future very positively.”

About SCGC

SCG Chemicals, or SCGC, is a leading integrated chemical player in ASEAN with strategic bases in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand, offering a full range of petrochemical products ranging from upstream production of olefins to downstream production of 3 main plastics resins: polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride.

SCGC focuses on inventing “Innovation that’s Real” to drive the ASEAN economy and elevate the quality of life in accordance with ESG and circular economy. SCGC develops technology and innovation toward HVAs in infrastructure, consumable packaging, automotive, health and well-being, and energy solutions, together with sustainable environmental stewardship.

The transaction on the Kras side was supported by transaction advisors RECURA Financials, legal counsel by Lexence and Baker McKenzie.

Additional details on Kras and SCGC can be found on kras-recycling.com and scgchemicals.com.