Kickstart: Restructuring a would-be auto supply giant

Private equity company KKR created a global auto supply giant when it combined Italy-based Magneti Marelli with Japan's Calsonic Kansei.

As the newly named Marelli, the company was expected to see $16.4 billion in annual sales, including exterior injection molded fascia, lighting and under-the-hood plastic parts. It could potentially combine those elements into a complete package for autonomous cars.

Unfortunately, the timing for the creation of Marelli wasn't great. It came into being in mid-2019. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic combined with microchip shortages that impacted vehicle production worldwide meant the firm had less income than expected.

Now KKR has been selected in a debt restructuring process focused on reducing Marelli's debt load by more than $3 billion to give it more financial breathing room.

"[We] will continue to support Marelli as it works to position itself as an automotive leader for the future, notwithstanding the current challenges the industry is facing globally," KKR said in a statement to Bloomberg.

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Can a change in the color of caps on milk jugs make a difference in recycling?

The United Kingdom-based supermarket chain Waitrose thinks so and is working with its dairy supplier to convert colored caps to clear high density polyethylene ones in a move it expects will boost HDPE recycling by 1,560 metric tons per year.

Müller Milk & Ingredients buys a fifth of all milk produced in the U.K. each year and in its study with Waitrose found that consumers are more likely to buy and recycle the entire milk jug if there is a clear cap.

Müller has its own in-house milk jug production. Its HDPE bottles are made with 40 percent recycled content.

All recycling is aimed at recovering value in materials, but a Netherlands-based recycling operation is thinking of it in different terms: as urban mining.

Amsterdam-based Umincorp takes its name from the phrase "urban mining corporation," Lucy van Keulen told Karen Laird for the new issue of our sister magazine Sustainable Plastics.

"The city is a rich source [of materials], far richer than any source in Uganda or Venezuela, where you might be sourcing raw materials from," van Keulen said.

The May/June issue of Sustainable Plastics puts its emphasis on recycling, from traditional mechanical recycling with a twist, such as what Umincorp does, to the growing investments in chemical recycling.

You can download a copy from the SP website.