DePoly has closed a $13.8 million seed funding round co-led by BASF Venture Capital and Wingman Ventures, and also involving the likes of Beiersdorf, Infinity Recycling, CIECH Ventures, Zürcher Kantonalbank, Angel Invest, and ACE & Company.
Plastics like polyethylene terephthalate (PET) can be found in many of our daily items, such as clothing, packaging, and outdoor equipment.
Unfortunately, the high costs and difficulty required for sorting, separating, and cleaning these complex plastic streams, coupled with a lack of globally scaled solutions, mean that only so-called perfect (clean, simple composition without other materials mixed) plastics get recycled.
DePoly, which was founded in 2020, aims to tackle the waste plastic problem with its chemical recycling technology. Currently, it converts all PET plastics and polyester textiles – originally sourced from fossil fuels – back into their main raw chemical components.
Those components are then sold back to the industry to make new virgin quality plastic items.
We are thrilled to announce a major milestone for DePoly as we raise CHF12.3m in an oversubscribed seed funding round! #BreakingNews #Investment #SeedFundingRound #RecyclingRevolution #Sustainability #PlasticPollution #SDGs #DeepTechhttps://t.co/Je8qDzNRA6 pic.twitter.com/8BNrlGAHus
— DePoly (@DePolySA) June 27, 2023
Samantha Anderson, CEO and Co-founder at DePoly, says: “Plastics are a part of our lives and an existential dilemma facing us all. The plastic market isn’t slowing down, as it’s currently growing at a yearly rate of 5% CAGR and is estimated to be worth over $500 billion.”
“We believe that to tackle this problem effectively, a simple, scalable solution is required that can treat difficult plastic streams.”
“By recycling pre-post-consumer and post-industrial plastics that otherwise would be sent to incineration centres or be landfilled, we at DePoly aim to eliminate plastic waste and create a sustainable source of chemicals by diverting this waste from our environment and lowering our carbon footprint up to 65% at the same time.”
“The raw materials produced match that of their fossil fuel-based equivalents, meaning customers no longer have to choose between PET quality and its sustainability.”
“Plastic pollution is a public health crisis and demands urgent action. Plastic waste has infiltrated every corner of our planet, poisoning our food chain and imperilling wildlife. DePoly is paving the way for a truly sustainable plastic economy,” adds Antonia Albert, Principal at Wingman Ventures.
“We are extremely proud to support DePoly since day one on their journey to tackle this planetary crisis to clean our oceans and landfills from plastic waste and to welcome leading investors from the chemicals, recycling, climate and deep tech space onboard to build the global leader for the sustainable plastics recycling.”
DePoly has built and operates a pilot plant that processes a capacity of 50 tonnes per year of these complex PET or polyester plastic streams, showcasing how the technology works for various industries ranging from post-consumer packaging to textiles, fashion, and post-industrial streams.
Currently, the company is working on building a new showcase plant with a capacity of 500 tonnes per year to demonstrate the technology at a commercial scale.
Markus Solibieda, Managing Director at BASF Venture Capital, comments: “To truly implement the circular plastics economy, we must transform our business practices, and that requires collaborative efforts from various stakeholders.”
“DePoly’s technology offers a promising solution to address the global plastic waste challenge and concurrently support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions related to the production of virgin plastics. We are excited to support their mission to create a more sustainable future.”
Jan Willem Muller, Managing Partner at Infinity Recycling, comments: “We believe that DePoly has the team and the drive to bring their groundbreaking innovation for polyester recycling to market.”
“Together with its partners, we are supporting a significant step forward in our joint mission to tackle the global plastic and clothing waste crisis, transforming the future of recycling.”
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