Canadian circular plastics and fiber recycling firm Loop Industries has teamed with one of India’s leading manufacturers of specialty polymers to form a new joint venture.

Loop, which recycles plastic waste and polyester textiles into new materials, has entered into a 50-50 strategic partnership with Ester Industries to form a new entity called India JV. The partners will build and operate a manufacturing facility to produce low-carbon recycled dimethyl terephthalate (rDMT), recycled mono-ethylene glycol (rMEG), which can be used across a multitude of applications including textile fibers.

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The “Infinite Loop” production program will combine the complementary technologies and skill sets from each company, with Loop providing much of the innovative processing capabilities and Ester providing expertise when it comes to sourcing PET and polyester waste feedstocks in the local market.

The rDMT and rMEG products created at the Infinite Loop facility will complement Loop’s existing PET and polyester fiber manufacturing business, which has seen growing demand in recent years. Loop said the expansion will allow it to probe new markets and consumers across industries like textiles, automotive, electronics and packaging. The heightened scale of production will also allow India JV to drive down the price of the premium sustainable materials, making them more accessible to a broader market, it added.

With the partners investing about $165 million into India JV, Loop and Ester said they anticipate breaking ground on the facility by the end of this year. Construction will be completed by the end of 2026, and commercial operations are slated to ramp up in early 2027. Certain operational elements, like feedstock sourcing from India’s abundant supply of textile waste, are already underway, and an external firm has been hired to secure land for the facility.

“Ester and Loop have a long-standing working relationship with a deep alignment of values and shared commitment to circularity and driving sustainable change,” Ester chairman and CEO Arvind Singhania said. “This partnership reinforces our dedication to advancing sustainable solutions in the polymer industry and by leveraging Loop’s technology alongside our decades of polymer production experience, we will contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of our products, meeting the evolving needs of our customers.”