Limburg-based LIOF invests in clean tech scale-up Healix to support the circular economy.

Limburg-based LIOF, the regional development company for the Dutch province of Limburg, announced that it has invested in Healix, a clean tech scale-up that recycles discarded rope and nets from agriculture and fisheries into high-quality, circular polymers.

LIOF supports start-ups, scale-ups, small businesses, and foreign companies looking to establish a presence in Limburg through advising, networking, and financing. 

“We’re excited to join forces with LIOF,” said Marcel Alberts, CEO and founder of Healix. “Besides being an investor from our home province, they share our social and sustainable values and enable us to continue our mission.”

Aim of the investment

The investment aligns with LIOF’s goal to finance frontrunners in the circular economy. It will enable Healix to scale up, innovate, and optimise its operations in Maastricht, helping the company make a positive impact on the plastics industry.

LIOF has been following Healix closely for a while. The company has witnessed how Healix quickly turned its ambitious idea into a real recycling plant. According to investment manager Stefan Vocks, this investment will be used to improve the plant in Maastricht.

Healix recycles discarded rope and nets from agriculture and fisheries into high-quality, circular polymers. They work with supply chain partners, including The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit environmental engineering organisation based in the Netherlands. This innovative production method helps battle the plastic soup and reduces the company’s ecological footprint at the same time.

The Maastricht plant was built after Healix secured €10M in funding. It opened in 2022, producing 6,000 tons of recycled polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethene (HDPE) per year, saving almost 10,000 tons of CO₂ emissions.

LIOF also plans to expand Healix internationally, focusing on key locations for waste collection. Annemoon Borst, another investment manager, shared that the team was already brewing for the plans. 

Combating plastics problems

Plastics are a major worldwide environmental threat. Data from the Plastic Soup Foundation show that over eight million metric tons of plastic end up in the oceans annually. Although discarded ropes and nets pose the greatest threat to marine life as they could easily get tangled in them, the primary source of the pollution is from the land. 

One example is agriculture, which uses a whopping twelve million metric tons of plastic annually. However, only a tiny 6.5 per cent of it gets recycled.

Healix is one of the leading innovators in sustainable solutions to the growing plastic problem. They specialise in converting discarded ropes and nets from agriculture and fisheries into certified circular polymers in pellet form. They aim to make these products take precedence over virgin plastics.

To make this happen, Healix collaborates with waste collectors and partners with industry leaders like Tama Group and LC Packaging. These two companies, among many, incorporate Healix’s granules into their products.
The company’s production process also reduces 50,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions over five years, along with a decrease in fossil fuel consumption. This is because the conventional material used for ropes and nets relies on petroleum production. In contrast, the carbon footprint of circular polymers is four times smaller.