Kirkbi Climate, the climate investment arm of Kirkbi, the holding company behind the Lego Group, has appointed Craig Arnold as its Head of Circular Plastics. Arnold also joins the firm’s leadership team as it prepares to step up spending in the area substantially.
The hire comes as Kirkbi Climate changes the way it operates. Rather than acting only as a traditional investor, the firm says it now wants to build and grow companies directly where they can address climate problems, and circular plastics has been singled out as a major focus of that shift. Its strategy in the field covers the full value chain, with the aim of expanding solutions for recycling and reuse rather than backing a single technology or stage of the process.
The money behind the plan is considerable. Kirkbi Climate intends to invest DKK 10 billion, or about USD 1.5 billion, over five years across three areas: circular plastics, the energy transition and land sustainability. Arnold arrives with a long record in the industry he will now be investing in. He was most recently Executive Vice President for Polyolefins, Base Chemicals (HC&E) and Circular Economy Solutions at Borealis, the plastics and chemicals producer, where he oversaw its plastics and chemicals businesses as well as its circularity strategy. Before that he held executive roles at Ferroglobe, which produces silicon metal and ferroalloys, and he spent more than 20 years at Dow Chemical.
Anupam Bhargava, chief executive of Kirkbi Climate, said Arnold’s background suited the firm’s plans for more investment, more partnerships and closer involvement in the businesses it backs. “Craig brings deep industry knowledge and hands-on experience,” Bhargava said, pointing to his track record of building and transforming companies. Arnold said his own career has given him a clear view of both sides of the material. “I have spent my career in the plastics and chemicals industry,” he said, adding that he has seen the value plastics create as well as the scale of the waste problem they leave behind.
Arnold said he sees Kirkbi Climate’s long-term, patient capital and its systems-based approach as important for scaling circular solutions.
