Nexus Circular

Nexus Circular operates as an advanced recycling firm, positioning itself at the core of the circular economy for plastics. The company’s founding was sparked in 2007 when Jeff Gold, an entrepreneur with a background in practical chemistry, read an article on converting plastic bags into an oil-like product through pyrolysis. This inspired him to begin experimenting on a bench scale, leading to the formal establishment of Nexus in 2008. By 2014, Gold partnered with Eric Hartz, who shared the vision of creating an economically viable and scalable company to address environmental challenges.

The firm's business model centers on its proprietary pyrolysis technology, which converts hard-to-recycle plastics—specifically types such as HDPE, LDPE, PP, and PS—into a high-quality circular liquid feedstock. This process involves heating used plastics in an oxygen-free environment, breaking them down to their molecular components without the use of catalysts, water, or pressure. The resulting product is an ISCC PLUS certified circular liquid that serves as a replacement for fossil-based feedstocks in the production of new, virgin-quality plastics. Nexus generates revenue by selling this circular liquid to major petrochemical companies and offtake partners, including Shell, Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem), Braskem, and Dow, helping them meet their sustainability commitments for recycled content.

Nexus's journey includes several significant milestones. A pivotal moment came in 2015 with an initial investment from Cox Enterprises, which facilitated commercial expansion. The company commissioned its first commercial production line in Atlanta in 2018. A strategic shift occurred in 2019 when a project with Shell demonstrated the high value of using the pyrolysis liquid to produce new plastics, moving Nexus away from its initial focus on fuel for furnaces and boilers to a fully circular solution. In January 2023, Nexus secured a $150 million funding round led by Cox Enterprises, which became the majority owner, to accelerate expansion plans. The company aims to build facilities capable of processing over 250 million pounds of used plastic annually and is on a trajectory to convert billions of pounds by 2025-2030.

Keywords: advanced recycling, circular economy, pyrolysis, plastic waste, sustainable feedstock, chemical recycling, hard-to-recycle plastics, plastic-to-liquid, ISCC PLUS certification, cleantech, Jeff Gold, Eric Hartz, Cox Enterprises, Chevron Phillips Chemical, waste-to-virgin plastics, circular materials, polymer feedstock, polyethylene recycling, polypropylene recycling, polystyrene recycling, circular supply chain, environmental technology