Neste Buys Stake in US Recycling Tech Firm Alterra

(Reuters) – Finland’s Neste has bought a minority stake in privately-held chemical recycling technology company Alterra, it said on Monday, enabling the pair to introduce the U.S. firm’s technology to Europe.

Details of the deal were not disclosed.

Neste said Alterra can liquefy a broad range of plastic waste into a material similar to crude oil, which can then be processed and upgraded by companies like Neste into high-quality feedstock for polymers and chemicals production.

“The collaboration of the companies supports Alterra’s target of commencing the construction of a state-of-the-art liquefaction site in Europe during 2021,” it said.

Neste, originally an oil refiner and gas station chain, has over the last decade refocused its operations into renewable fuels, which generate vast majority of the group’s profits.