@Thomas_Westerholm How great a risk do you see that the cash flow from the traditional business will not be enough to cover the losses from the plastic plant’s ramp-up and the necessary investments for the plant’s commissioning? On the other hand, what is the risk that a willing financier cannot be found in the market to complete the plant?
And on the other hand, does the plastic processing plant concept have potential for wider global expansion? The Yle news report highlighted that Lamor was able to assemble such a facility from components and through partnership arrangements.
It seems that Lamor is very difficult even for a good analyst to unpack. That 2026 cash flow is absolutely critical for investors, but the lack of visibility makes investing impossible in my view. I think Lamor should openly disclose what the Kilpilahti ramp-up requires (€ + schedule), what the core business looks like, and what the plan is for the bond. The recycling business should also be reported as a separate segment. If the 2026 guidance follows previous years—a vague revenue forecast and EBIT margin, with nothing on cash flow, CAPEX, or the balance sheet—then it’s hard not to conclude that they are either hiding something or they just don’t know. In light of your cash flow/balance sheet forecasts, how does the refinancing of the bond, which is becoming acute, look?
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Indeed, the last paragraph of your comment is very important from the company’s perspective. Once the final three lines are built in Kilpilahti, it will be interesting to see whether the total investment remains under 100 million.
That is a significant amount and, as you noted, the other business operations will have to cover all the costs of that loan/investment for at least the next couple of years.
It’s saying a lot to talk about “when the last three lines are built.” I would first like to see the first line completed, commissioning done, and the facility permitted. Commissioning would, of course, first and foremost require that the facility actually has all the machinery and equipment needed for the process in place.
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You are right. However, I believe that is the ultimate goal. As for the timeline, we’ll see.
Regarding the ramp-up of the first production line, I am not worried, but in my opinion, instead of other production line investments, the company should prioritize its capital allocation during the current year so that the maturing €25 million bond can be redeemed and financial flexibility is maintained for potential larger service projects in the traditional business. From this perspective, I don’t see it as sensible to invest in other production lines until the balance sheet has been refinanced and the working capital needs for the growth required by the rest of the business have been secured.
In the report published in November, I commented on the capital allocation outlook as follows:
“From a capital allocation perspective, we believe Lamor should currently prioritize the ability to redeem the €25 million bond maturing next year and maintain financial flexibility for the working capital required by larger service projects. Therefore, we have lowered our investment forecasts and expect the company to initially operate only one production line in Kilpilahti.”
There certainly is, if things get rolling well (and profitably). However, I wouldn’t start speculating on that potential at this stage, as before that, the business would be ramped up in Kilpilahti with four production lines.
At the end of Q3’25, net debt/EBITDA was 5.3x, which is a high level and not a particularly easy starting point for new loan negotiations. According to my forecasts for the current year, earnings performance will improve and the company will be able to release working capital from completed service projects, which improves its negotiating position. From a cash flow perspective, the working capital requirement of the business is the most challenging component to forecast, as the business’s working capital needs have fluctuated so much. However, it is clear that the bond won’t be redeemed solely with cash and operational cash flow, so new debt financing or equity-based financing will be needed for it. As a silver lining, the financing environment has generally loosened since 2023, when Lamor issued the bond.
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Is Lamor’s plastic recycling plant the kind of facility where it would be worth bringing in plastic from as far as abroad? There should be enough material domestically for now, but in the future, would it be more profitable to, for example, import plastic waste from the Baltics to Lamor in Porvoo, or to build an entirely separate plant there (as well)? In other words, logistics costs to Finland vs. a local plant.
As an amateur, one might imagine that as recycling requirements increase, the volume of separately collected plastic will also grow in Europe. Lamor certainly has the kind of relationships around the world that would allow for setting up dedicated facilities further afield. Although in these cases, Lamor would probably only act as a maintenance lead / consultant, while someone else would be responsible for operating the plant itself.
So, is there expansion potential visible in the near future, or will it remain more of a small-scale pilot plant for a while longer? For example, over the next 5–10 years, if one dares to predict that far ahead. Waste for incineration has already been imported to Finland, but could the recycling of separately collected plastic become a new business that employs people in Finland?
Though many likely want their own similar facilities as soon as raw material and demand start to pick up. Lamor’s dependence on Shell (?) is also likely a risk when considering business expansion.
The leadership roulette continues. Moving from the board to the CEO position.
Fred Larsen has been appointed CEO of Lamor Corporation Plc, as Lamor’s previous CEO Johan Grön moves to become the CEO of Lamor Recycling Oy, the recycled plastic-based oil business. Both will start in their positions immediately. Johan Grön continues as a member of Lamor’s Management Team.
Lamor: A billion-euro plastic value loop begins in Finland with Shell – “A giant step towards sustainability”
Lamor announces a “value loop”, where sorted plastic waste is converted into certified recycled oil and further into virgin-quality plastic polymers, with the help of Shell’s industrial refining. “Our goal is to solve the plastic crisis while creating economic potential worth tens of billions of euros,” summarizes Johan Grön, CEO of Lamor Recycling. The certified entity is designed to be replicated across Europe and globally. “Pyrolysis-based recycled oil can be used in all plastics – this is revolutionary news for the entire industry,” says Alexander Rosenlew, CEO of Orthex Group.
Lamor Corporation Plc’s (Lamor) Kilpilahti production line in Porvoo is currently moving into commissioning. This is industrial-scale proof of the functionality of Lamor’s solution – not a new pilot project. The value loop developed by Lamor combines collection and sorting, thermochemical recycling, and petrochemical integration. This creates a traceable cycle where waste returns again and again as new plastic products – and from there back to consumers and collection. Plastic can practically stay in circulation indefinitely.
Based on an offtake agreement between the companies, Shell enables the large-scale implementation of the solution by refining the recycled oil produced by Lamor into a raw material suitable for petrochemical plastic production at its own European production units, such as Moerdijk in the Netherlands. This ensures the traceability of the entire chain and enables the seamless use of recycled molecules in complex industrial production processes.
Grön has just transitioned from CEO of the parent company Lamor Corporation Plc to CEO of Lamor Recycling to fully utilize the billion-euro growth potential of the plastic recycling business.
A certified route back to consumers
Orthex Group, a Nordic market leader in household products listed on Nasdaq Helsinki, brings the consumer perspective to the entity. Orthex only manufactures durable and recyclable products – not single-use items – that are designed to last from generation to generation and be recycled at the end of their life cycle. For Orthex, the transition from fossil raw materials to recycled and renewable ones is the single most important environmental action.
Orthex awaits the commercial availability of the recycled oil, while Lamor is currently finalizing the adjustments to the Kilpilahti production line.
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Here are Thomas’s comments on founder Fred Larsen returning as the company’s CEO and current CEO Johan Grön moving to lead the recycling business. 
Lamor announced on Tuesday significant changes in the company’s management, as Fred Larsen returns as the Group CEO and the current CEO, Johan Grön, moves to lead the recycling business. In our view, the changes emphasize the company’s aim to strengthen core business sales and ensure the successful ramp-up of the Kilpilahti recycling facility.
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It is not worth transporting plastic waste from very far away. Even though the waste is baled, a large part of the bale is air, and the bale always contains moisture. It isn’t worth transporting air and water from long distances.
Facilities similar to Lamor’s, and even much larger ones, already exist. There is no revolutionary technology here. I don’t see why Lamor specifically would have a good chance of scaling a global recycling business, as Lamor is not the first in its field, nor does it have a particularly strong cash position. Other industry players are already further along in their own projects, and consequently, their learning curve is at a more advanced level. Lamor also lacks expertise in the process industry.
Lamor might not even be the first industrial-scale plastic recycler in Finland. As I understand it, Corsair’s facility in Kaukas is closer to oil production than Lamor’s. Corsair also has an agreement with Shell to purchase its production, so there is nothing particularly remarkable about that either.
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I agree. Lamor has neither the technology, the prior experience, nor the financial or human resources for anything that would justify the excessive hype we are seeing now. The press release is written as if Shell were somehow boundlessly committed, which is likely not the case. Lamor has not delivered a single drop of oil so far, and the oil it might eventually deliver will be an expensive feedstock for Shell, so they will almost certainly keep their commitment to a minimum. It would be wisest for Lamor to focus hour by hour on getting this facility into production and avoiding the senseless hype. This project, with its costs and delays, has been such a fiasco so far that it’s almost amusing to read these billion-dollar fairy tales.
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It is absolutely true that, in general, transporting waste (with the possible exception of metals or other valuable materials) over long distances is cost-inefficient. For a long time, plastic was even exported from Finland to Sweden (though likely for incineration) because there was no processing capacity here. As I understand it, waste transport to Finland has occurred in connection with shipments that would have otherwise come to Finland empty to pick up goods, but instead filled those empty containers with waste. Shipping only waste would not make economic sense (it is, of course, a different matter if a lack of space forces waste to be transported away, even at a higher cost). Those days are now starting to be behind us. A boost could come from regulation where the failure to recycle is sanctioned quickly with heavy penalties. However, in the current climate, such a thing probably shouldn’t be expected.
I am not an expert on these types of investments, but in terms of duration, this does not seem to have taken an exceptionally long time (knock on wood). When assessing duration and costs, a key factor is whether Lamor is developing its own technology here (separation of different plastics, more cost-effective processing of new plastics, etc.) or relying purely on existing technology.
The talk is big, unlike the resources allowed by the size of the company.
Time will tell if this turns into something interesting or if it remains just a wild (= expensive) experiment.
A challenge here is also the fact that operations rely heavily on regulation. Only through compulsion can these types of businesses gain momentum. Now is not the most optimal time for that.
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Plastic recycling isn’t driven by regulation. There is more demand for the product than supply. No one has really succeeded in producing oil from plastic on an industrial scale yet.
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Plastic recycling “kind of” relies on regulation because the new EU packaging directive discusses both reusable recyclable packaging and the phasing out of plastic packaging by around 2030, with certain exceptions.
In practice, painting with a broad brush, this means that plastic packaging that can be reused and recycled remains, I believe, “accepted,” while the goal is to get rid of other types of plastic packaging. Plastic is a good material for certain things that cannot be replaced by fiber-based materials. For this reason as well, oil companies have a clear interest in the implementation of plastic recycling.
Regarding Lamor, I will not comment other than as a former owner who watched the core business disappear into the horizon and the expansion of operations drift toward a storm. I hope that the new personnel changes prove my future outlook for the company to be wrong.
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Lamor’s history regarding these personnel changes is not very encouraging. Almost everything has been tried, and no improvement has been seen. I suspect the root causes lie deeper, in the ownership. For the exact same reason, the board also survives from one disappointment to the next. After reflecting on the latest changes for a moment, I realized that the new CEO is actually the former CEO, who was replaced back in 2019. Is it now the case that six years on the board of the same company after being replaced has refined this family-company veteran into the best possible CEO for a listed company? He would hardly be the CEO again if the ownership structure were different. Although I agree that a plastics company requires a tough leader, Grön’s track record isn’t convincing either. Under his leadership, the processing plant project has been shockingly delayed and costs so much that the entire company’s future may be at risk. Somehow I’m inclined to predict that this wasn’t a long-term change, either. Fortunately, my own holding has been reduced so much that I don’t lose sleep over it.
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INSIDE INFORMATION: Lamor makes strategic changes towards a more efficient global operating model – Group Leadership Team becomes more compact
Lamor is moving to a global operating model, replacing the current structure of three market areas. The aim of the reform is to centralise and strengthen global sales and operational management and to enable agile scaling of operations. At the same time, the composition of the Group Leadership Team has been changed effective as of today.
The change in the operating model and the planned structural reforms are expected to support the achievement of Lamor’s previously announced efficiency targets. Lamor announced on 31.7.2025 that it is targeting EUR 8 million in cost savings in both variable and fixed costs by the end of 2026 compared to the 2024 level. Management has identified new Group-wide opportunities to improve operational efficiency across all geographical areas and functions.
Group Leadership Team as of 13.2.2026
As of today, the members of Lamor’s Leadership Team are:
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Fred Larsen, Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
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Nalle Stenman, Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
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Richard Hill, Chief Sales Officer (CSO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO)
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Mervi Oikkonen, Chief People Officer (CPO)
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Johan Grön, CEO, Lamor Recycling Oy
To strategically align sales and operations, Richard Hill will also take on the role of Chief Sales Officer. Richard has extensive experience in customer interaction, business operations, and product development. This combination of customer insight and operational expertise provides him with a strong foundation for leading the company’s sales in the future.
Following the removal of the previous market area-based organisational structure, the current market area directors Rob James, Jesus Pelayo, and Aziz Al-Othman are leaving the company.
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