Circulate hits first close on Asian ocean protection fund

It is described as the first-ever fund dedicated to addressing the plastic crisis in Asia; the region is said to be the origin of 60% of the plastic found in global oceans. LPs include PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Dow, Danone, Unilever, Coca-Cola, and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company.

The fund will provide both debt and equity funding to waste management, recycling and circular economy start-ups and small to medium-sized enterprises focused on preventing plastic pollution and advancing the circular economy. Circulate said it has identified more than 200 potential investments across a range of industries in South and Southeast Asia and expects to make the first commitments in early 2020.

Circulate says there are about 150 million tons of plastic in the ocean today and that number grows by around 8 million tons a year, which is equivalent to a garbage truck unloading every minute. More than half of this plastic enters the ocean from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Asia is estimated to require some $26 trillion of investment in various types of transportation and waste management infrastructure to manage the crisis.

"The good news is that we are able to reduce nearly 50% of the world's plastic leakage by investing in the waste and recycling sector in Asia, and even more if we invest in innovative materials and technologies," Rob Kaplan, CEO at Circulate, said in a statement. "This is why we are here in Singapore – a strategic hub of Southeast Asia – to prove that investing in this sector is scalable for the region and can generate competitive returns, while moving closer to solving the ocean plastic crisis."

Circulate was set up last year in collaboration with Ocean Conservancy, a US non-profit, and Closed Loop Partners, a US PE and VC investor focused on sustainable consumer goods and advanced recycling. Earlier this year, Circulate reached an agreement with USAID, an international development agency of the US government, to contribute up to a $35 million to private capital investment and new business development in the recycling value chain in South and Southeast Asia.

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