New team member will lead the development of the firm’s work to finance waste and recycling infrastructure in emerging economies to address ocean plastics
Press Release – New York — Closed Loop Partners today announced the appointment of Grant Collins as Vice President of Closed Loop Oceans, its initiative to develop a new funding mechanism to prevent plastic waste from leaking into the world’s oceans. Closed Loop Oceans is a collaborative initiative in partnership with Ocean Conservancy, the Trash Free Seas Alliance, Closed Loop Partners, 3M, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, The Coca Cola Company, the American Chemistry Council and the World Plastics Council.
Research indicates that the majority of plastic debris originates from five fast growing economies in Asia – Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and China. As a result, the initiative will focus on galvanizing investment in waste management and recycling solutions in Southeast Asia.
Mr. Collins, who has spent over two decades in the international capital and commodities markets as a financier and a lawyer, joins Closed Loop Partners from Charlotte Square Consulting, where he focused on the development of innovative risk management and investment products with ethical or socially responsible objectives.
“With his multidisciplinary expertise in a broad range of developing economies, particularly those in Asia, as well as his deep knowledge of various investment products,” said Rob Kaplan, Managing Partner of Closed Loop Partners, “Grant is ideally positioned to lead this complex and impactful initiative to bring capital market solutions to bear on a global challenge — improving environmental, social, and economic outcomes across the region.”
“I am delighted to be joining Closed Loop Partners,” said Mr. Collins, “and to have the opportunity of contributing to the development of a funding strategy that will facilitate new sources of public and private investment in Southeast Asia’s waste management and recycling ecosystem while also demonstrating positive investment returns and tangible environmental impact.”
At the Our Ocean 2017 conference, a global gathering of world leaders to address some of the world’s most pressing ocean challenges, the Closed Loop Oceans initiative was announced. This initiative is designed to fund waste management and recycling solutions in Southeast Asia, with a focus on investments to improve collection, sorting and recycling markets. Nearly half of the plastic that flows into the ocean every year – an estimated 8 million metric tons – escapes from waste streams in just five rapidly developing economies in Asia (Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and China). Mr. Collins will be leading this work.
Closed Loop Partners
Closed Loop Partners invests in sustainable consumer goods, advanced recycling technologies and the development of the circular economy.
