Temasek impact unit backs UK cleantech player

Polymateria claims its technology can break down plastic items into water, CO2, and biomass without leaving any microplastic or toxic residue in the environment. It said the technology can be deployed with no changes to existing manufacturing processes and is compatible with existing recycling streams, giving it significant scalability.

The company provides a time controlled biological additive for incorporation into conventional plastic manufacturing processes to create biodegradable plastic packaging. This is hoped to efficiently reduce common sources of plastic pollution, including bags, trays, and cups. Customers include Twickenham Rugby Stadium, the Chicago Marathon, and 7-Eleven Taiwan.

The Series B – which also featured Thai petrochemicals company Indorama Ventures – has been described as a major milestone in Polymateria’s efforts to tackle plastic pollution globally. It coincides with the company establishing a base in Singapore.

“With the strength of Polymateria’s scientific underpinning and the vast scalability of its technology, we believe that the solution developed by the company can help address challenges in plastic packaging related pollution,” Sugandhi Matta, chief impact officer at ABC, said in a statement. “We look forward to helping the team expand its commercialisation reach and further generate impact at scale in Asia.”

Polymateria was founded in 2015 at Imperial College London and operates out of the university’s innovation and R&D platform, White City Campus. Its previous investors include Milltrust International, a UK-based impact investor that facilitated introductions to the Asian investors via its Singapore office.

Polymateria's CEO is Niall Dunne, formerly of British Telecom, Accenture, and Saatch & Saatchi. The chairman is Marc Bolland, head of Blackstone European Portfolio Operations and chairman of The Blackstone Group International Partners. ABC’s Matta has been appointed to the board.

There are currently more than 150m tons of plastic in the world’s oceans. About 8m tons is estimated to be added every year, which is equivalent to a garbage truck full of plastic backing up to the ocean and dumping its load every minute. More than half of that enters the ocean from China and Southeast Asia.

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• Topics
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