The Waste Commission of Scott County (WCSC) in Iowa received a loan from the Circular Plastics Fund (CPF), Beverage Fund (CLBF), and Closed Loop Infrastructure Fund (CLIF), according to circular economy company, Closed Loop Partners. The $5 million loan will support equipment upgrades at the county's materials recovery facility. WCSC will purchase three new optical sorters to expand and improve the facility's sorting capacity.
Scott County received financing in 2015 and 2018 from the Closed Loop Infrastructure Group, which is in charge of managing and allocating assets from four distinct investment funds, including CLIF. This investment assisted with infrastructure upgrades as well as recycling carts which are currently being used by the county's residents.
According to Jennifer Louie, Managing Director at Closed Loop Partners, "Investing in modernizing recycling infrastructure is critical to ensuring that valuable materials are pulled back into supply chains at end of life, and never go to waste. Scott County has made significant progress over the years to advance resilient recycling systems. We are proud to continue our support of their work, grow material recovery capabilities and strengthen local circular economy infrastructure.”
The new loan will support an increase in the region's processing of important recyclable materials. When finalized, the equipment enhancements will increase capacity by more than 1,600 tons and facilitate the capture of 900,000 extra pounds of materials annually.
“Scott County is the third largest county in Iowa and WCSC’s service area reaches 75,000 households,” said Kathy Morris, Director of the Waste Commission of Scott County. “The new equipment helps us increase our tonnage and diversion rates so that we’re diverting more waste from the landfill and into efficient recycling systems.”
Closed Loop Partners, a certified B corporation, is a pioneer in the advancement of the Circular Economy. The organization is divided into three major business segments: an investment firm, an innovation center, and an operating group. Over the past two years, the company has made large investments in major household names such as, but not limited to, Dow, LyondellBasell, NOVA Chemical, Unilever North America, DICK’S Sporting Goods.
