NEW YORK, February 2023 – Kamps, Inc., one of the nation’s leading pallet organizations, announced that it has amended its senior credit facility to introduce Green Loan provisions, executing the first Green Loan for a pallet company in the United States. ING Capital LLC acted as the sole Green Loan Structuring Agent on the transaction. Other lenders in the facility include Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., Adams Street Credit Advisors LP, Churchill Asset Management LLC, BlackRock Capital Investment Advisors, LLC, and WhiteHorse Capital.
Kamps, which has been majority-owned by U.S. private equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co. since 2019, specializes in supplying high-quality recycled pallets and custom and new pallets. Kamps was founded in 1973 on the core philosophy of maximizing a pallet’s life cycle to create the greatest positive outcome for its customers, stakeholders, and the environment. Today, Kamps’ business model continues to maximize the number of recycled pallets in circulation and provides its valued customers with flexible and sustainable supply chain solutions.
In 2021, Kamps recycled 200 million pallets through its owned and operated facilities and national network. This contributed to 10.9 million trees saved, 3.7 million tons of landfill waste diverted, and 5.6 million metric tons of CO2 emissions saved, according to Kamps’ latest Environmental Sustainability report. At the end of a pallet’s useful life, Kamps creates end-of-life byproducts such as landscape and playground mulch and wood pellets for fuel that are both environmentally friendly and minimize waste.
“The amendment of our credit facility to include Green Loan provisions serves as a key external validation of the sustainability practices that are core to our business model. Kamps was founded on green principles such as recycling and waste diversion 50 years ago, and these principles are still at the core of our strategy today,” said Kamps President Mitchell Kamps.
“The Green Loan status is a testament to not only Kamps’ commitment to sustainability, but also that sustainability is at the very core of their business model,” said Ana Carolina Oliveira, Head of Sustainable Finance, Americas, ING. “Companies are increasingly focused on the sustainability of their value chains and how to increase the circularity of their businesses. The green loan will help Kamps to continue setting new standards in resource efficiency and circularity.”
From: reusable packaging news