Syklo Group opens its Hyvinkää circular economy hub, which combines Finland’s largest plastic recycling plant with an industrial-scale biocomposite facility. The total investment is around €70–80M, with the plant set to process 50,000 tonnes of plastic waste every year. This material would otherwise be incinerated or sent to landfill. The plant alone raises Finland’s plastic recycling capacity by 50% and cuts Finland’s calculated greenhouse gas emissions by over 100,000 tonnes of CO2eq per year.

“Our goal is to grow the circular economy as one of the leading areas of Finnish export. Finland’s recycling rate has long been among the weakest in Europe. With this investment, we are turning the direction for the whole country,” said Teemu Koskela, CEO of Syklo Group. “Our ultimate mission is to build a more sustainable world, where materials are kept in circulation. Now is exactly the right time to help create the circular economy market. The EU’s newly approved End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation and the PPWR are strengthening demand for recycled materials even further.”

The plant’s process is built for demanding sorting and refining, from start to finish, using a closed-loop water system. The sorting stage uses patented technology from Impact Recycling, which separates black plastics from plastic streams based on minimal differences in density. Syklo has also built the plant’s overall concept, refining process, and quality assurance. As a result, the final product, Sykloplast recycled plastic pellets, meets the plastics industry’s requirements for consistent quality and technical performance.

The biocomposite facility will operate alongside the plastic recycling plant, using Syklo’s patented wet-web technology to preserve the length of cellulose fibres to improve material strength. The process runs on a closed water circuit, keeping the environmental impact to a minimum. Syklocomp biocomposite can replace glass fibre, talc, and technical plastics in the packaging, electronics, and transport equipment industries. In its first phase, the facility’s final product capacity is 8,000 tonnes per year. The Sykloplast recycled plastic pellets produced in plastic recycling will become a direct raw material for the biocomposite facility. This cuts transport costs and enables a high-quality final product.

The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation and the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation both create new demand for high-quality recycled plastic and recycled reinforcement material. This is what Syklo produces at its Hyvinkää circular economy hub, with Sykloplast recycled plastic pellets and Syklocomp biocomposite, which can both be used by the automotive and packaging industries.