Lamor: Billions Worth of Plastics Value Circle launched in Finland with Shell – ‘Huge Step Towards Sustainability’

Finnish Lamor Corporation announces a ‘Value Circle’ that turns sorted plastic waste into certified circular oil and back into virgin-equivalent polymers – through Shell’s industrial upgrading. ‘We both seek to solve the plastics crisis and create economic potential worth dozens of billions’, summarizes Lamor Recycling CEO Johan Grön. The certified chain is designed for replication in Europe and globally. ‘Pyrolysis-based circular oil can be used for all plastics – good news in a revolutionary manner’, states Orthex Group CEO Alexander Rosenlew.

Lamor Corporation’s Kilpilahti line in Porvoo, Finland, is moving through commissioning, providing industrial proof point rather than another pilot. The ‘Value Circle’ ideated and enabled by Lamor couples collection and sorting with thermochemical recycling and petrochemical integration, creating a traceable loop from waste reused into new plastic products – and then to consumers and collection again. Plastics can stay in circulation forever.

‘Why does this matter now?’ asks Johan Grön, CEO of Lamor Recycling. Corporation. Lamor is an exceptionally global Finnish company operating in more than 100 countries, offering end-to-end solutions on environmental issues everywhere in the world.

‘Because Europe and the entire planet need credible, industrial-scale plastics recycling with content that can meet tight quality demands. In Kilpilahti we show that certified circular oil produced from mixed plastic can re-enter existing petrochemical assets and return as high-quality polymers. With Shell’s integration, this becomes scalable and repeatable – a blueprint we intend to deploy first in Europe and then globally. We both seek to solve the plastics crisis and create economic potential worth dozens of billions.’

Based on an offtake agreement between the two companies, Shell enables the model to work at scale by upgrading Lamor’s circular oil into cracker-ready feedstock within its established European assets, including Moerdijk. This keeps the chain auditable while allowing recycled molecules to flow through complex production systems. Grön explains the logic.

‘Brands and converters want certified circular feedstock that runs on their current lines. With the integration of our circular oil into Shell’s upgrading and petrochemical value chains, customers get access to virgin-quality polymers under ISCC PLUS mass-balance governance. It’s about delivering scale with traceability. This is a huge step towards sustainability with plastics.’

Grön has just moved from CEO of the parent company Lamor Corporation to CEO of Lamor Recycling, in order to fully unlock the billions worth of potential of the plastics recycling business.

Certified routes back to consumers

Orthex Group, a leading Nordic houseware company listed on Nasdaq Helsinki, brings the consumer-facing perspective. Orthex produces only durable, recyclable products – never single-use – designed to last for generations and to be recycled at end of life. For Orthex, the shift from fossil-based materials to recycled and renewable raw materials is the single most important step for the environment.

‘We are really ambitious. Our target is 80% recycled or renewable raw materials by 2030. Today that is just under 20%, and mainly from mechanically recycled sources. This is problematic for us, since mechanical recycling cannot serve food-contact items such as lunch boxes. It doesn’t deliver the optical transparency needed for Orthex’s storage boxes either, our largest category. However, pyrolysis-based circular oil can be used for all plastics – good news in a revolutionary manner’, assesses Alexander Rosenlew, CEO of Orthex.

Orthex is eagerly waiting for the circular oil to become available, with the final adjustments to the production line being presently made by Lamor in Kilpilahti.

‘With circular oil from pyrolysis by Lamor, the barriers of mechanical recycling are overcome. That means we can offer consumers far more products made from recycled materials without compromising quality or safety. For the plastics industry, this is a huge step towards genuine sustainability. A model like Lamor’s Value Circle gives industry the confidence and capability to scale circular packaging systems in line with customer and regulatory expectations’, Rosenlew underscores.

The Value Circle aligns with Europe’s policy direction and addresses a clear capacity gap in high-quality recycled content – and encourages further regulation and incentives to speed up the process. By placing conversion close to feedstock sources and linking to global integration and offtake, the concept offers a practical path to massive growth. Lamor’s aim is to replicate the blueprint in other regions, building local loops that connect reliably into established petrochemical networks.

‘Chemical recycling must prove it can be measured, certified and economical. That is exactly what this partnership sets out to demonstrate: A way to turn a massive environmental challenge into an environmentally crucial and climate-friendly industrial growth opportunity – starting in Finland, built for the world. With our own global network we are extremely well positioned to really make this happen. The other alternative is the continuation of the plastics crisis – the term UN uses for the present situation’, Grön adds.

FACT BOX — Lamor’s Plastics Value Circle

Why does it matter?

• Solution to the present plastics catastrophy: Lamor’s Value Circle helps keep plastics out of the seas and every environment – plastic waste becomes truly valuable
• Plastics circulation through Lamor’s Value Circle is good business with zero subsidies, business estimated to explode in size globally
• The potential is gigantic: In the EU alone, the yearly amount of produced plastic is 54 million tons, of which only 0.12 Mt was chemically recycled (2023)
• Considerable climate benefits

What it does?

• Feedstock: Sorted mixed plastic waste
• Conversion: Lamor thermochemical recycling → circular oil
• Integration: Shell upgrading and refining → spec-compliant cracker feedstock
• Use cases: New plastic applications, including packaging pathways (subject to specification and certification)
• Certification: ISCC PLUS with mass-balance chain-of-custody
• Side streams: Wax, pygas, energy, ash valorised to maximise system value

Why it works?

• Industrial reality: Commissioning in Kilpilahti; integration into existing assets with Shell – to be replicated wherever
• Traceability: Third-party certification and auditable allocation
• Replicability: Local “satellite’ conversion near feedstocks; global offtake and market access

Additional information

• Johan Grön, CEO, Lamor Recycling — +358 40 546 4186 — johan.gron@lamor.com
• Hanna Kukkonen, Chief Marketing and Sustainability Officer, Oy Orthex Finland Ab – +358 400 538 886 — hanna.kukkonen@orthexgroup.com