Singapore bio-plastics developer RWDC raises $95m

The investment, billed as an extension of a $133 million Series B round raised last year, was supported by Hong Kong’s Optimas Capital and CPV/CAP Pensionskasse Coop, the pension fund of Switzerland’s largest retail company. It brings total funding to date to at least $263 million.

RWDC aims to replace petroleum-derived materials with safe, sustainable alternatives using polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a material recognized as the only commercially viable biodegradable bioplastic. PHA can be used in a range of everyday, single-use consumer goods such as straws, utensils, cups, plates, and lids.

The company will use the funding to expand its PHA production capacity in the US to 50 kilotons per year and develop a production facility in Singapore. It is in discussions with local authorities to secure a site. When ready, the Singapore facility will be the first of its kind in the region.

“The funding and support from global investors come at a critical juncture as the world battles the two monumental environmental challenges – climate change and marine litter – with the manufacture, consumption, and disposal of consumer product packaging a key contributor to both, from the perspective of resource use, waste and carbon emissions,” RWDC CEO Daniel Carraway said in a statement.

“It will speed up the adoption of sustainable packaging and help many of the world’s largest brands meet their sustainable packaging commitments of having 100% of their packaging be recyclable, biodegradable or compostable by 2025.”

Evidence of traction on this front can be seen in the Circulate Capital Ocean Fund, which raised $106 million in 2019 from the likes PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Dow, Coca-Cola, and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company. Circulate Capital, which is dedicated to stemming plastic waste pollution in South and Southeast Asia, achieved a $14 million first close on a follow up fund in June.

There is an estimated 150 million tons of plastic in the world’s oceans today and that number grows by around 8 million tons a year. More than half of it enters the waters in 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.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
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• Temasek Holdings
• Vickers Venture Partners
• manufacturing