Californian-based systems provider Origin Materials is gearing up to sell its PET cap technology and other remaining assets after unsuccessful attempts to secure additional capital.
The West Sacramento-based company, which in 2024 launched what it claimed was the world’s first commercial-scale manufacturing system for PET caps and closures, will also wind down operations, the company said in a statement.
Its board of directors has unanimously approved the company’s dissolution and liquidation, subject to shareholder approval.
Matt Plavan, the company’s chief finance officer and chief operating officer, has been appointed as interim chief executive officer.
Ongoing customer support
He described the company’s ongoing work to support customer qualification processes and to optimise its products for manufacturing as a “critical prerequisite to commercially scaling this technology” and said it remained a primary focus during this period.
“We previously reported that, absent near-term financing and reductions in operating expenses, our existing cash and cash equivalents would allow us to continue our planned operations into the third quarter of 2026,” Plavan said.
“In addition, over the past year, the board of directors, management, and external advisors devoted substantial time and effort to identifying and pursuing strategic opportunities to enhance shareholder value.
“To date, however, our attempts to source additional capital have been unsuccessful, and the strategic review process has not yielded a potential transaction which the board views as reasonably likely to provide greater realisable value to shareholders than the sale of the technology followed by an orderly wind-down of the company.”
Workforce reduction
The company said it will reduce its workforce as part of a cost-cutting move to support the planned sale.
Affected employees are expected to depart by the end of the month, and executive team members will also leave the firm.
John Bissell is to step down as chief executive but will continue to serve on the board of directors.
At the time of launch, the company’s Origin CapFormer System was said to enable 100 per cent PET container-to-container beverage recycling for the first time.
The innovation, revealed in 2024, came a year after Origin announced that it had mastered PET caps and closures after several years of development, and a month after it announced its first signed customer for PET caps and closures.
For the project, the company worked with PackSys Global, a producer of slit-and-fold technology, which is regularly used in the manufacture of HDPE caps.
