We aspire to put a lot of assets to work at superior risk-adjusted returns, in technologies which are both economically and environmentally sustainable relative to the linear economy, with the goal of financial profit from cost effectively delivering superior customer value, while also contributing to the greater good of making the planet more inhabitable.

Circularity presents such an opportunity. You create value by converting low value residues into high value, circular products, while conserving natural resources. Successful examples are many and widespread, ranging from metals such as aluminum, steel, and copper to basic fibers such as paper or composite wood products, to applications such as process water for semiconductor fabrication. Each of these successful examples of circularity overcame challenges not too different from where many materials still find themselves today.

Mixed household waste, plastics, textiles, tires, and electronics are among the categories of materials which are now where those earlier successes were in their infancy. The markets for these remaining challenges are huge and relatively a-cyclical, and they represent the opportunity to deploy enormous amounts of private capital at attractive returns. Moreover, these circular commodities have low or negative carbon intensity. They tend to generate a higher Carbon Return on Investment (“CROI₂₀”) than classic climate-focused investments, while offering many other benefits, mitigating pollution, microplastics, vermin, or disease vectors.