BASF Venture Capital GmbH (BVC), the corporate venture company of the BASF Group has announced an investment in the Swiss startup DePoly SA (DePoly), a plastic solutions provider developing chemical recycling technology.
DePoly has apparently developed a chemical recycling technology that converts mixed post-consumer and post-industrial polyester plastic waste streams, as well as polyester-containing fabrics and fibres, back into their precursors at virgin-grade quality. BASF claims this process is energy efficient as it operates at room temperature and standard pressure without the need for pre-sorting, pre-washing, or removal of contaminant materials.
BVC co-led DePoly’s CHF12.3M seed financing round along with Wingman Ventures, with the participation of Beiersdorf, Infinity Recycling, CIECH Ventures, Angel Invest and others. The proceeds of the financing round will enable DePoly to accelerate the scale-up and development of its depolymerisation process, leading to the building of a demonstration plant expected to be operational in 2024.
BASF states only about 10 percent of plastics are recycled with the majority going to incineration or landfill, and as brand owners aim for higher recycled content rates in their products, the demand for advanced recycling technologies is expected to grow.
“Our technology has the potential to fundamentally change the lifecycle of PET plastics and reinforce the global efforts in tackling the climate challenge. We are thrilled to have BASF Venture Capital and other strategic investors in this round supporting us in implementing our solution on a larger scale,” said Samantha Anderson, CEO and co-founder of DePoly.
BASF aims to move toward a more circular economy by increasingly using recycled and renewable feedstocks, shaping new material cycles and creating new business models. The company is running a Circular Economy Program in an effort to double its sales generated with solutions for the circular economy to €17 billion by 2030. One example of these efforts is BASF’s ChemCycling® business.
“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,” said Markus Solibieda, managing director at BASF Venture Capital.
In 2022, BASF partnered with StePac to create a reportedly contact-sensitive packaging solution for the preservation of fresh produce, and in May this year a collaborative project including BASF, Krones, SÜDPACK, and TOMRA claimed to have achieved a closed recycling loop for PET-based multi-layer packaging.
If you liked this article, you might also enjoy:
McKinsey on whether or not on-pack sustainability claims affect consumer spending
A deep dive into the most important packaging sustainability trends and solutions
No comments yet