Jussi Saloranta doesn’t see the world as it is; he sees it as it should be. The Finnish-born entrepreneur, who now calls Thailand home, has built a career out of seeing opportunity where others see obstacles, most recently in mountains of discarded plastic.
It’s not hyperbole to say that Saloranta is on a mission to save the planet. As the founder and CEO of Corsair Group International, a waste-to-energy company specializing in chemical recycling, he’s turning the tide on one of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges: plastic pollution. “Only around 5% of plastics today are being recycled,” Saloranta says. “That has to change.”
His journey to this mission has been anything but ordinary. Born in the Finnish city of Turku in 1982, Saloranta’s early life was defined by structure, discipline, and ambition. He credits much of his resilience to his upbringing in Finland, a country known for its educational system and work ethic. His mother worked for the Finnish government, and his father, a self-made entrepreneur in the security industry, became a key mentor later in life. “He didn’t become my mentor until I was ready,” Saloranta reflects.
But Finland, for all its order and opportunity, felt limited to the young dreamer. “It’s a fantastic place to grow up, but not the most supportive environment for entrepreneurs,” he says. At 23, after finishing hotel management studies and working in hospitality and sales, Saloranta left the cold behind for the tropics of Thailand.
Thailand wasn’t just a change of scenery; it was a launchpad. He cut his teeth in real estate, joining a development firm with two friends, and quickly proved himself a formidable salesman and business builder. Over the next decade, they completed over 2,000 housing units, expanding into hospitality and transportation. Saloranta pursued side ventures in startups, finance, and even cryptocurrency. He was an early adopter of Bitcoin and blockchain back in 2012.
Yet it wasn’t until a serendipitous encounter with researchers at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok that Saloranta found his true calling. “I was introduced to the science of chemical recycling—specifically, how plastic waste could be turned back into oil through pyrolysis,” he recalls. The idea was revolutionary. More than just recycling, it was reversing the plastic lifecycle.
In 2020, amid global lockdowns and economic freefall, Saloranta launched Corsair Group International. The timing couldn’t have been worse or better. With oil prices at historic lows and investment capital scarce, many doubted the viability of his venture. “People thought we were insane,” he admits. But with grit and a small circle of private investors, Corsair acquired a struggling recycling plant in Bangkok. They overhauled the operation, brought in new technology, and turned it into a profit-generating model of sustainability.
Today, Corsair Group International is one of the fastest-growing players in the advanced recycling space. The company has struck major deals, including partnerships with global petrochemical giants like Shell, supplying pyrolysis oil, a high-value product derived from mixed plastic waste from Thailand to Singapore, and soon from Finland to the Netherlands. Corsair now employs over 100 people, with headquarters in Bangkok and Amsterdam.
But Saloranta isn’t content with business success. Corsair’s mission is deeply personal. “I’ve seen firsthand the damage plastic can do to our oceans and communities,” he says. That conviction has shaped Corsair’s grassroots initiatives. The Plastic Waste Collection Program mobilizes corporate partners to sponsor waste removal efforts. The Catching Plastic Initiative enlists Thailand’s fishing fleets to haul discarded plastic from the sea.
Despite its global scope, Corsair remains privately held, with no government subsidies or institutional funding. “We had to be extremely innovative from day one,” Saloranta explains. “Persistence was our only superpower.”
For Saloranta, leadership isn’t just about business acumen; it’s about people. He draws from a pantheon of influences that range from Elon Musk to Dana White, from motivational legends like Tony Robbins to his first direct-sales mentor, Jari Ollila. “You learn the most from those who’ve seen both success and failure,” he says.
That philosophy has shaped Corsair’s corporate values. The company aspires not just to scale, but to leave a legacy. Its ultimate goal? To process over one billion kilos of plastic waste annually and produce environmentally friendlier plastics that reduce dependency on fossil fuels. “We want to leave a cleaner planet and better opportunities for future generations,” Saloranta says.
His work hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 2024, Saloranta appeared on Fintech TV to discuss Corsair’s cutting-edge approach to converting plastic waste into valuable oil products. He was also featured in a segment on New York’s PIX11 News, which spotlighted Corsair’s international expansion and commitment to environmental impact. The appearances helped catapult both him and the company into the spotlight as serious players in the global sustainability movement.
He still finds time for his early passions: martial arts, music, and acting. A trained musician and former theater student, he credits the arts with helping him develop empathy and communication skills that have proven invaluable in business and diplomacy.
Saloranta sees Corsair Group International expanding into more markets, forming stronger public-private partnerships, and continuing to innovate in an industry often stymied by bureaucracy and greenwashing. “We’re not here to put a Band-Aid on the problem,” he says. “We’re here to solve it.”
