Mechanical Recycling
General Information
Mechanical recycling includes all purely mechanical and physical processes for treating used plastics, while retaining the molecular structure of the polymer molecule. Mechanical recycling is one of the most frequently used methods for recycling of thermoplastic polymers.
One of the most common amongst those polymers is PET. Within that, PET beverage bottles enjoy a high recycling performance, whereas PET trays and polyester textiles are harder or not possible to recycle mechanically. PET bottles uniformity in terms of material composition and packaging format makes it easier to guarantee the quality of the recyclate. This in turn has ensured recycled PET commands a premium relative to other plastic polymers, driving relatively high collection and sortation rates both in high and low income countries. Mechanical recycling can produce "food grade" recycled PET, which is marginally lower quality than virgin equivalent. However, examples of 100% recycled PET packaging, such as beverage bottles, are common. While PET bottles cannot be recycled indefinitely, it is still possible to use mechanical recycling to create systems that are almost equivalent to "closed loops". Chemical recycling (depolymerization) is used primarily as a way to recycle the hard to recycle PET such as trays and polyester textiles.
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) also enjoys high recycling performance and is often systematically collected and recycled. However most of the recycling technology used for HDPE is adapted to heavy duty applications like water piping and does not meet the needs of other markets such as the packaging industry.
Recycling polypropylene (PP) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE), while technically possible, is challenging due to the high costs associated with sorting the materials from other plastics. Many recycling facilities today operate manually and are not equipped to sort low value plastics.
Mechanical recycling cannot produce \"food grade\" recycled content for PP/PE. This means there is an opportunity to use alternative technologies such as chemical recycling to produce food grade recycled content using pyrolysis. However, globally the opportunity for chemical recycling is small according to the Towards Ending Plastic Pollution report (Systemiq (2023). Towards Ending Plastic Pollution by 2040), and barriers to developing the infrastructure (and safeguards) are higher in the global south.
Because of the difficulty and high cost of sorting, transporting, cleaning and reprocessing plastics of all kinds, in many places it is only economically viable to recycle a few select types (usually PET and HDPE).
Costs and revenue model
Mechanical recyclers' business models rely primarily on feedstock prices, recycling yield, and recyclate prices. Volatility in recyclate prices is usually passed on to aggregators and plastic collection operators. Profit margins can vary considerably based on geography and plastic polymers. Profit margins for flexible plastics recycling are usually in the low single digits, while rigid recyclers in developing countries with a substantial recycling sector such as Indonesia or India tend to enjoy profit margins around 15%.
Depending on the target polymers to be recycled and the complexity of the facility, a mechanical recycling facility generally requires a moderate initial capex for infrastructure, equipment, and land, with the business model benefiting from economies of scale. Operating expenses usually include material purchase and processing, logistics, and other SG&A expenses.
Market development
According to The Circulate Initiative's Plastics Circularity Investment Tracker the total deal value in the mechanical recycling sector globally was $30 billion between 2018 and 6M 2023. While plastic pollution is most pressing in emerging markets, they receive only a small proportion of the overall investment: in the same period Asian countries attracted $3.5 billion of private investments, Latin America and the Caribbean $590 million, and Africa only $43.7 million.
In developing countries, the recycling industry is often largely fragmented with operators from all sizes and capabilities ranging from large, professional operators equipped to handle substantial volumes and multinational offtakers, to small-scale recyclers operating at the local level, often acting as intermediaries. The industry is also often loosely regulated and monitored. While there is a supply-demand gap for recycled plastic, the growth of the industry is dependent on securing stable and high quality feedstock. The lack of supply chain transparency is often a concern for buyers who are seeking to strengthen the social and environmental standards of their supply chains.
Finally, the industry is currently ill-equipped to handle changes in price. Price volatility due to supply and demand shocks, as well as the lack of long-term offtake agreements, means that the waste collectors (both formal and informal) are often the ones most affected as recyclers look to maintain their margins.
Investment Readiness Assessment
The investment readiness assessment uses a scoring system across three key parameters to provide a comprehensive view of the investment viability of the finance demand opportunities. Scores vary from 1 to 5. Investors and stakeholders can use this scoring system to make informed decisions and prioritize investment options based on their specific objectives and risk tolerance.
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Investment Scale
3Investment size can vary, but scalability may be constrained by the availability of sorted plastic-waste feedstock and competition in the recycling sector.
Large and stable supply of high quality feedstock is instrumental for large scale operations.
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Return Potential
3Mechanical recycling of rigid plastic offers a potentially attractive return on investment due to revenue from recyclate sales. The sector enjoys positive momentum on the back of favourable regulatory changes and shifting public awareness. Competition with cheaper virgin materials makes the business case for recovery managers relatively uneconomic and leads to higher costs for producers adopting secondary materials. Profit margins can vary but are observed to be around 15% in developing countries, such as Indonesia. However, historically the industry has struggled due to price volatility and high costs associated with feedstock supply and labour costs associated with product dismantling.
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Perceived Risk
3Although primed for private capital investment, the sector still presents some significant commercial risks such as fluctuating commodity prices for recyclables, and faces technical challenges.
A robust supply of high quality feedstock, and long-term offtake agreements can partially mitigate the commercial risks associated with commodity price volatility.
Sources of capital for Mechanical Recycling
Primary sources
Secondary sources
Established recycling industry actors already actively invest in the sector, looking to achieve scale and secure feedstock supply. In addition, packaging companies and other plastic users actively invest through their value chain in an effort to vertically integrate and secure supply of recycled materials.
While public-private partnerships can fund and operate recycling services, they have been impeded in part by the limited capacity for planning and scaling these services at the city level. The privatization of these services is becoming more common due to a combination of a lack of government resources and the potential for profitability as the demand for recycled content escalates, hence driving more investments into the space.
Traditional commercial early-stage investors such as venture capital funds can also fill an important gap in financing by investing in early stage or small scale recycling operations in emerging countries focused on high value plastic such as PET. Specialized impact investors have also played an important role in financing early stage expansion of small-scale recycling operations in emerging markets. Early-stage investments are critical to increase their scale and offer the operational buffer necessary for these companies to mature and become more robust.
Recycling infrastructure projects are usually able to meet the criteria necessary for concessional capital deployment through blended finance interventions. Development finance institutions such as the IFC, ADB, and DEG have participated in a large blue loan financing package to fund investments in recycling infrastructure.
De-risking instruments
Recycling investment offers the opportunity to deploy a variety of financial interventions, including:
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Concessional debt / equity aimed at providing favourable terms of rates relative to commercial capital by taking first losses on the value of the investment. The use of concessional debt / equity helps shift the risk-return ratio for private investors to an acceptable level, and bring down the weighted average cost of capital for a project.
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Risk reduction tools that protect investors against capital losses such as guarantees or insurance schemes.
Enabling System Conditions
Other enabling conditions
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Quality feedstock: Stable and high-quality material feedstock with low contamination levels.
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Environmental and ethical standards: Supply chain practices and transparency should align with environmental and ethical standards.
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Price competitiveness: The stability and competitiveness of recycled plastic prices are critical, potentially achieved through technology advancements or market interventions.
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Recycling offtake commitments: Strong demand commitments and long-term offtake agreements are critical to enable recyclers to invest in more and better processing capacity. It is therefore not sufficient to just use recycled content. Companies must create constant and predictable demand for it.
Financing challenges
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Competition from virgin plastic: The primary issue is that competition with (often cheaper) virgin materials make the business case for recyclers relatively uneconomic and leads to higher costs for producers adopting secondary materials. Recyclables have to compete with long established, highly international and competitive virgin material markets which still offer the same product at a (more) reliable quality and usually at lower prices. Recently certain recycled materials such as PET have seen a rise in popularity and are able to command a premium to market prices.
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Investment Dependence: Investment in recycling hinges on improving upstream waste collection through consumer behavior campaigns, infrastructure development, and plastic producer intervention.
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Assurance of supply: Plastic recycling initiatives require financing and assurance of a stable supply of recyclable materials. Investors need to ensure that there is a reliable source of feedstock for recycling operations.
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Political instability / Exchange rate risks / Lack of familiarity and data on EMDE markets / Lack of insight on local market conditions and investment opportunity
Reference:
PEW, Breaking The Plastic Wave
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GPAP Report 2022Read More
Aarhus City Deposit System
Aarhus Municipality and TOMRA enter collaboration to establish a deposit system for takeaway packaging
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GPAP Report 2022Read MoreAlgramo — B2C packaging reduce and reuse model
Chilean start-up Algramo expanding its packaging reuse model abroad
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IFC Case StudyRead More
Belgrade Waste-to-Energy Project
Public-private partnership combining de-risking and private sector innovation to support waste management in Serbia
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StartupRead More
B'ZEOS Seaweed Packaging
Using science and seaweed to tackle the plastic pollution problem
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GPAP Report 2022Read MoreCoca Cola FEMSA Green Bond
Bottling company catalyzing growth of rPET infrastructure in Mexico
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Katpult OceanRead More
Fortuna Cools
A Philippines-based agritech startup making sustainable coolers out of coconut fibre, supported by seed funding to ramp up production
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GPAP Report 2022Read More
Indorama Ventures Blue Loan
The world's first blue loan to expand recycling capacity across emerging markets
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KfWRead More
Landfill in Albania
Funding from KfW to finance landfills in Albania
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GPAP Report 2022Read More
Natura Sustainability Linked Bond
Issuing the first Latin American Sustainability-Linked Bond (SLB) to target plastic reduction
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PabocoRead More
Paboco Joint Venture
Paboco to produce fully recyclable paper bottles in 2024
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Plastic EnergyRead More
Plastic Energy
Chemical recycling company fuels its growth through institutional fundraising
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STOPRead More
Project STOP Indonesia
Project STOP collaborates with city governments in Indonesia to establish waste collection and sortation systems, supported by grant funding from corporate partners and donor agencies
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GPAP Report 2022Read More
Recykal
A digital marketplace for plastic waste transactions in India
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ODARead More
Solid Waste Management Project in Peru
ODA loan agreement with Peru to develop landfills in Peru
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GPAP Report 2022Read More
Tridi Oasis
An innovative recycling startup in Indonesia proves resilient with the help of early-stage blended finance
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JICARead More
Waste-to-Energy and Waste Treatment Project in Vietnam
Chemical recycling company fuels its growth through institutional fundraising
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Government FundingRead More
Bueno Aires waste collection systems
Providing waste collection services to the municipality of Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Private EquityRead More
IFCO acquisition by PE fund Triton
Reusable packaging solutions provider acquired by Triton and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), for US$ 2.51 billion
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CircolutionRead More
Circolution receives seed funding from Amcor
Amcor, a global packaging solutions leader, has invested $250,000 into smart reusable food packaging start-up Circolution
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NotplaRead More
Notpla raises £10M to develop seaweed-based packaging
London-based Notpla, a sustainable packaging startup, announced that it has raised £10M in its Series A round of funding
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USAID ReportRead More
Indonesia's Waste4Change raises $5m in series A funding
Indonesia-based waste management platform Waste4Change announced Friday that it has secured a $5 million series A funding round
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COLIBARead More
Coliba Africa
Coliba Africa secured $850,000 from USAID and support from the Alliance to End Plastic Waste to train 6,000 waste collectors and establish recycling facilities with a 14,000-ton capacity.
Aarhus City Deposit System
Aarhus and TOMRA have joined forces to create deposit system for takeaway packaging in the city center of Aarhus. The municipality and the company have signed a collaboration agreement for a three-year trial, which initially focuses on take away cups with a deposit. In next stages the plan is to expand the system to also cover all types of takeaway packaging ensuring a convenient and circular system. The pilot reuse system will enable the shift from single use packaging to reusable packaging, by providing an infrastructure that entire cities can use.
TOMRA and Aarhus City enter collaboration to create innovative reuse system
Algramo — B2C packaging reduce and reuse model
Founded in 2012, Algramo initially pursued a model facilitating reuse of household containers that used tricycles fitted with dispensers to sell non-perishables like rice and laundry detergent to low-income families in Chile. It then established vending machine dispensers — with reusable containers that enable consumers to buy exactly the amount they want — in retail outlets in poorer areas of Santiago. Having raised over $11 million in aggregate over two funding rounds in 2019 and 2021 from US, Mexican, and European investment funds, Algramo is now expanding its reuse model, using radio-frequency identification (RFID) tagged containers in the US, UK, Mexico, and Indonesia.
GPAP (2022), Unlocking the Plastics Circular Economy: Case Studies on Investment
Belgrade Waste-to-Energy Project
In 2015, the City of Belgrade started working with IFC to design a public-private partnership to overhaul the city's waste management system focused on the Vinča landfill. The project, which received €260 million in financing and guarantees from IFC, MIGA, and others, including a €20 million blended concessional loan from the Canada-IFC Blended Climate Finance Program, was managed by a consortium including Veolia, ITOCHU, and Marguerite Fund II. The integrated Vinča project includes a new energy recovery facility, a cogeneration facility, and a construction and demolition waste recycling plant, alongside a new sanitary landfill meeting EU and Serbian standards. Operational since February 2023, the waste-to-energy facility processes up to 340,000 tons of waste annually, generating up to 30 MW of electricity and 56 MW of thermal energy, enough for 30,000 households' electricity and 60,000 households' heating. The recycling plant handles 200,000 tons of construction waste per year. This initiative is expected to cut Belgrade's greenhouse emissions by 210,000 tons of CO2 equivalent annually and has created 120 permanent and 600 construction jobs. This is also notably the first large-scale private sector waste management project in emerging markets and the first in Serbia to receive Gold Standard Carbon Credit Accreditation.
Belgrade’s Waste-to-Energy Project Sparks Environmental Renaissance
B'ZEOS Seaweed Packaging
The Norwegian start-up B'ZEOS develops novel bio-based packaging solutions with the aim to replace the need for single-use plastic. B'ZEOS has received grants from Innovation Norway and the EU via an R&D funding scheme for the blue bioeconomy. The company has collaborated with Nestlé in the development of food packaging prototypes, from edible straw formulation to pilot scale manufacturing of flexible films packaging.
Coca Cola FEMSA Green Bond
As the Government of Mexico considered legislation to improve the country's management of solid waste, Coca-Cola FEMSA, in collaboration with bottling and plastics industry peers including PepsiCo bottler GEPP, supported the establishment of ECOCE (Ecología y Compromiso Empresarial, or Businesses Committed to Environmentalism), a non-profit dedicated to improving recycling rates in Mexico. Using price incentives to encourage greater PET bottle collection, the consequent increase in recycling rates and reliability of local rPET (recycled PET) feedstocks helped mobilize capital to develop local recycling infrastructure. Early on, this capital was sourced from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private sector-focused global development institution, and other commercial return seeking institutions. Subsequent capital came from recycled plastic stakeholders in Mexico — most recently through investment by Coca-Cola FEMSA funded by the tightly priced issuance of a green bond, for which Morgan Stanley served as joint bookrunner. The aggregated capital helped create domestic PET processing infrastructure, broadened he number of market participants engaged in tackling plastic waste, and increased the quantity of recycled material in plastic packaging in Mexico.
GPAP (2022), Unlocking the Plastics Circular Economy: Case Studies on Investment
Fortuna Cools
Founded in 2018, Fortuna Cools, a Philippine startup, works alongside small-scale agricultural communities and offers coolers and insulated packaging made from up-cycled, biodegradable coconut fibers to help fishermen preserve their catch without relying on fragile Styrofoam boxes. The coolers offer communities a more robust and lower cost cold storage solution. In 2021 the UN Development Program awarded Fortuna's Coconut Cooler the Ocean Innovation Prize for accelerating the shift from plastic foam to biodegradable alternatives. Fortuna Cools secured a seed investment round led by ADB Ventures (the impact investment arm of Asian Development Bank) and Katapult Ocean Fund.
Indorama Ventures Blue Loan
With strong demand from its global customer base and a drive to advance its own environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) credentials, Indorama Ventures Ltd. (IVL), the world's largest producer of PET bottles, committed to double its recycling capacity by investing $1.5 billion in processing facilities across five strategic emerging markets. To achieve this, IVL secured a blue loan financing package valued at $300 million from three development finance institutions (DFIs): the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG). The new financing generated further investment in recycling infrastructure by IVL. This innovative financial instrument is the world's first independently verified, non-sovereign blue loan, and has fostered the development and acceptance of issuance guidelines for the nascent blue bond market.
GPAP (2022), Unlocking the Plastics Circular Economy: Case Studies on Investment
Landfill in Albania
KfW, a German development bank, lead the financing of a EUR27.5m funding package to Albania to finance a programme for sustainable solid waste management in the Vlora district. The programme focused on the construction of a new regional sanitary landfill for solid waste, sorting and composting facilities, equipment, and closure of existing dumpsites in the Vlora area.
Financing Experiences and Opportunities for SWM in Albania
Natura Sustainability Linked Bond
In 2021, Natura Cosméticos S.A. (Natura), a wholly owned subsidiary of Natura &Co, issued a sustainability linked bond (SLB). One of the objectives of the bond was increased use of recycled plastic in the company's packaging. A majority of Latin American SLBs to date have also included GHG reduction targets, alongside a recycled plastics mandate (as Natura did) that positions the circular economy as an instrument to attain climate objectives. Natura's bond garnered strong investor interest, with Morgan Stanley acting as joint bookrunner. Building incentives into Latin American SLBs for issuers to meet their ESG targets could underpin increased issuance in other emerging markets, where accountability and transparency are often lacking.
GPAP (2022), Unlocking the Plastics Circular Economy: Case Studies on Investment
Paboco Joint Venture
Paboco (The Paper Bottle Company) was founded in 2019 as a joint venture between ALPLA and pulp and paper manufacturer Billerud. Together with the Pioneer brands Carlsberg, L'Oréal, Coca-Cola Europe, and Absolut as well as its technology partners, Paboco is working intensely on realizing its long-term objective: the development and scaling of a fully bio-based, recyclable, fiber-based bottle made of renewable materials. This bottle could replace both single-use glass bottles and plastic bottles. After the successful test phase, series production of the next generation of recyclable paper bottles is scheduled to start at the end of 2024.
Denmark's Paboco to produce fully recyclable paper bottles at new facility in 2024
Plastic Energy
Plastic Energy is a chemical recycling solution providers which converts end-of-life plastic waste into feedstock for making virgin-quality recycled plastics. Plastic Energy has two chemical recycling plants in operation in Spain. Plastic Energy has agreements with chemical and oil and gas companies including SABIC, TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil to expand its recycling capabilities. Plastic Energy project portfolio includes plans to build large scale plant in Malaysia, Indonesia, as well as in Europe. In 2022, Plastic Energy raised EUR145m from financial investors and corporate funding to accelerate its growth and expand its portfolio of recycling plants.
Plastic Energy Completes €145 Million Fundraise
Project STOP Indonesia
Launched in 2017 by Borealis and Systemiq, Project STOP (STop Ocean Plastics) works hand in hand with city governments to create effective circular waste management systems in high need areas of Southeast Asia. The initiative supports cities with technical expertise to achieve zero leakage of waste, increase recycling, build economically sustainable programs, creating new jobs and reducing the harmful impact of mismanaged waste on public health, tourism, and fisheries. While the first city partnership was established in 2017 in the municipality of Muncar, East Java in February 2022. Project STOP Muncar was handed over to the local government and communit y. Now the programme expands to the Banyuwangi regency combines a regency level waste system model with a material aggregator into a circular waste and recycling solution that can transform waste economics. Project STOP also operates two additional city part ner ships, in Pasuruan Regency, East Java where the programme is now fully owned by local authorities and the community in February 2023, and Jembrana Regency, in Bali. Project STOP's corporate partners include the Nestlé, Borouge, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, Siegwerk, Shwarz, and HP, with support from Trusts & Foundations, P4G and Accenture, including Academia, Pisces. Project STOP's success is in large part thanks to these collaborations as well as its close partnership with Norwegian government, USAID, local and national government offices in Indonesia, including the National Ministry for Environment and Forestry (KLHK) and the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs (CMMAI) and the Regency governments in the regions it works.
Recykal
The Indian government's Swaach Bharat (Clean India) mission helped to catalyze Recykal's solution to bring transparency and traceability to India's plastic waste supply chain via a digital platform. The waste management start-up secured $26 million in funding from domestic and international investors, including Morgan Stanley, in just three years. By encouraging the migration of plastic waste transactions to a digital marketplace, Recykal's model also promises greater standardization and reliability of associated data, bolstering the investment case for allocating capital to the sector.
GPAP (2022), Unlocking the Plastics Circular Economy: Case Studies on Investment
Solid Waste Management Project in Peru
In 2012, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed ODA loan agreements with the government of Peru to provide loans of up to 8.77 billion yen for assistance for the Energy Renovation Infrastructure Assistance Program and up to 4.396 billion yen for assistance for the Solid Waste Management Project. The objective of the Solid Waste Management Project is to establish efficient and sustainable solid waste management system in the 23 prioritized cities by constructing solid waste infrastructures as well as developing and/or rehabilitating solid waste collection and recycling/ recovering systems thereby contributing to improve environmental quality and living standard of the people in the target regions in Peru. It also aims to contribute to the alleviation of climate change. Through this project, JICA will assist the first trial of the central government of Peru to undertake and supervise the nationwide program to construct an integral waste management system in many local cities, which will be a crucial step for the development of waste management system in Peru. Coordinating with the IDB, JICA will advance the project while providing appropriate assistance to MINAM, which will supervise the project. The possibility of technical cooperation, dispatching volunteers and other such steps are also being considered for enhancing the capacity of the local municipalities to operate, maintain and manage the facilities constructed and settled by this project, as is assistance for environmental-education to the residents. The funding for this project will be allocated to civil works for the construction of sanitary landfills, procurement of materials and equipment (including heavy machinery for sanitary landfills and vehicles for collection and transportation of waste) and consulting services.
Signing of Japanese ODA Loan Agreements with the Republic of Peru
Tridi Oasis
Tridi Oasis was founded in 2016 by two women entrepreneurs as a processor of post-consumer PET bottles into flakes. Beyond the founders' start-up funds, seed capital was provided by a local venture firm and a Java-based non-profit. By 2019, Tridi Oasis had expanded its capacity and needed additional capital. Circulate Capital's Ocean Fund, a blended finance vehicle offering early-stage venture debt and equity, extended its first loan to Tridi Oasis in early 2020. The loan benefited from a 50% credit guarantee provided by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which partially de-risked the fund's investment while allowing the founders to maintain their existing equity. A second loan in early 2021 combined with technical assistance allowed Tridi to maintain operations through the Covid-19 pandemic and even increase productivity. Ultimately, in 2022 the company was able to attract an experienced strategic partner and pursue further expansion.
GPAP (2022), Unlocking the Plastics Circular Economy: Case Studies on Investment
Waste-to-Energy and Waste Treatment Project in Vietnam
In 2022, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a US$ 7 million loan agreement with Binh Duong Water Environment Joint Stock Company ("BIWASE") in Vietnam. This loan is co-financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The US$ 6 million from ADB will be financed through the Leading Asia's Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP), which is funded by JICA and administered by ADB. This project aims to contribute to the improvement of the urban environment and the circular economy in the region by financing the construction of a composting plant with a capacity of 840 tons per day and a waste-to-energy incineration facility to process 200 tons per day. BIWASE, the borrower of the project, established in 1975 and privatized in 2016, is a water-supply and waste-treatment company, and is the sole waste-treatment company that provides general waste treatment in Binh Duong Province.
Bueno Aires waste collection systems
In 2014, the municipality of Buenos Aires, Argentina, contracted the management of its waste management services to Proactiva Medio Ambiente, a Veolia subsidiary. The ten-year contract represents cumulative revenues of €500 million. Proactiva is responsible for collecting solid household waste and urban cleaning services in central Buenos Aires. To improve both service performance and health conditions, Proactiva implemented a waste containerization system throughout the service area.
IFCO acquisition by PE fund Triton
In 2019, IFCO SYSTEMS, a leading global provider of reusable packaging solutions for fresh foods, was acquired by to Triton, a private equity fund, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), for an enterprise value of US$ 2.51 billion. At the time IFCO generated revenues of more than US$1.1 billion.
IFCO announces acquisition by Triton for US$ 2.5 billion - IFCO Systems
Circolution receives seed funding from Amcor
In 2023, Amcor, a global leader in developing and producing packaging solutions, has announced a $250,000 investment into smart reusable food packaging start-up Circolution, the third winner of Amcor's Lift-Off initiative. Launched in April 2022, Amcor Lift-Off targets breakthrough, state-of-the-art technologies that will further advance Amcor's goal to make the future of packaging more sustainable. Circolution is the third company to secure funding through Amcor's Lift-Off initiative, which offers packaging start-ups up to $250,000 investment (convertible loan) to help scale their innovations, as well as access to Amcor's research and development resources.
Notpla raises £10M to develop seaweed-based packaging
In 2021, Notpla, a London-based sustainable packaging startup, has recently secured £10 million in a Series A funding round. This round was led by Bangkok-based Horizons Ventures, with additional contributions from Astanor Ventures, Lupa Systems, and Torch Capital. Established in 2014 by Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and Pierre-Yves Paslier, Notpla aims to combat plastic pollution by creating packaging solutions from seaweed and plants. Their innovative approach aligns with the EU Single-Use Plastic Directive, offering products that biodegrade within 4-6 weeks without the need for industrial composting. Notably, Notpla has developed "Ooho", an edible and fully biodegradable packaging made of seaweed, which has replaced over 500,000 single-use plastics at major events. They have also introduced a seaweed-coated cardboard for food packaging, in collaboration with Just Eat Takeaway.com. The recent funding will boost manufacturing and support the development of new products like transparent flexible films and seaweed paper. Notpla's unique, sustainable solutions are gaining traction, and they plan to expand into the cosmetics and fashion industries, underscoring their commitment to a future free of single-use plastics.
Indonesia's Waste4Change raises $5m in series A funding
Waste4Change, an Indonesia-based waste management startup, recently secured a $5 million Series A funding, co-led by AC Ventures and PT Barito Mitra Investama, with notable contributions from Basra Corporation, Paloma Capital, and others. Since its inception in November 2014, the company has committed to addressing Indonesia's waste management challenges, focusing on reducing landfill waste and enhancing recycling efforts. This fresh infusion of capital is earmarked for expanding Waste4Change's waste management capacity to 100 tons per day within the next 18 months, aiming for a significant increase to 2,000 tons per day over the next five years. Integral to this expansion is the integration of digital technologies for enhanced waste management processes and the automation of material recovery facilities. Furthermore, the company plans to fortify partnerships within the country's informal waste sector. Waste4Change operates across 21 Indonesian cities, managing more than 8,000 tons of waste annually and demonstrating a robust growth trajectory, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 55.1% since 2017. Under the leadership of founder and CEO Mohamad Bijaksana Junerosano, Waste4Change is not only scaling its operations but also aligning with the Indonesian government's environmental objectives, reinforcing its commitment to sustainable waste management solutions.
Indonesia's Waste4Change grabs $5M Series A co-led by AC Ventures - TNGlobal (technode.global)
Coliba Africa
Coliba Africa is a Cote-d'Ivoire-based recycling and waste management start-up. The company received financing for a 28-month project integrating informal waste collectors into Coliba's business model and training them to build better businesses. Coliba received a grant from USAID West Africa Trade & Investment Hub totalling $850,000, to implement its training and capacity building project. The Trade Hub grant with a loan from the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, and other stakeholders will fund a project to train 6,000 informal waste collectors, set up modern waste collection and recycling facilities with a capacity of 14,000 tons per year. The Alliance also provided the technical expertise needed to help the project develop a holistic waste management ecosystem.
World Bank's Plastic Policy Simulator (PPS)
Plastic Policy Simulator (2022)
GPAP National Analysis and Modeling (NAM) Tool
GPAP's National Analysis and Modeling (NAM) Tool allows countries to establish a science-based roadmap to accelerate their transition to a circular, low carbon emissions plastics system. It has been implemented in 12 countries to date.
Global Plastic Action Partnership NAM Tool
The Circulate Initiative’s Plastics Circularity Investment Tracker
The Circulate Initiative's Plastics Circularity Investment Tracker provides insights into private investments in plastics circularity globally.
Plastics Circularity Investment Tracker, The Circulate Initiative
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC)
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC)
UNEP Zero draft text of the international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution
Unlocking the Plastics Circular Economy: Case Studies on Investment
Unlocking the Plastics Circular Economy: Case Studies on Investment, GPAP (2022)
Redirecting financial flows to end plastic pollution
Redirecting financial flows to end plastic pollution, UNEP-FI (2023)
Breaking the Plastic Wave
Breaking the Plastic Wave, Systemiq
Mobilizing Blended Finance for Circular Waste Collection and Sortation
Mobilizing Blended Finance for Circular Waste Collection and Sortation, Systemiq (2023)