Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), a subsidiary of Unilever in India, recently acquired a 14.3% stake in Lucro Plastecycl, a soft packaging recycling business based in Mumbai, India, though the transaction amount has not been disclosed publicly.

Lucro collects, sorts, and regenerates difficult-to-recycle soft plastic packaging. The resulting recycled plastic not only meets its own needs but is also sold to third parties. The company claims to have de-inking, dry cleaning, and odor removal solutions, which can remove ink, oil stains, and impurities while eliminating odors, meeting the demand for post-consumer recycled plastic from brands. Hindustan Unilever claims that this is an action taken to achieve its sustainable goal of increasing the content of recycled soft plastics in packaging, consistent with India's government vision of achieving a future with zero plastic waste.

"Lucro will turn the post-consumer soft plastic recovery challenge into an opportunity to create high-quality, recycled plastic, thereby driving the circular economy forward," said Lucro Executive President Ujwal Desai. "HUL's new investment paves the way for increased capacity and the adoption of large-scale post-consumer recycled resins, setting a new benchmark for sustainable plastics."

In 2020, Circular Capital invested $6 million in Lucro and Tridi Oasis in Indonesia (source: Sustainable Plastics).