Novoloop is making tons of upcycled plastic

Plastic has a recycling problem. Only about 9% of plastic gets recycled, and a majority of that waste comes from single use items like plastic grocery bags. It’s partly a design problem — they’re made to be discarded. But it’s also a technology problem because recycling such films isn’t easy, and the results usually aren’t great.

Novoloop says it has developed a way to take those troublesome plastics and turn them into something other companies actually want to buy.

The California-based startup recently completed a test run of its demonstration plant that continuously upcycles waste plastic. The plant is capable of cranking out thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) up to 70 metric tons per year that can be used in everything from sneakers to car seats. Demand has been strong enough that the company is preparing plans for a bigger facility.

“We’re sold out. Literally every time we make something, we’re sold out,” Miranda Wang, co-founder and CEO of Novoloop, told TechCrunch.

On the heels of its demo production run, Novoloop has raised a $21 million Series B to finalize the design of its first commercial scale plant and begin construction, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. The new round was led by Taranis, an investment fund owned by oil-and-gas company Perenco, with participation from Valo Ventures and Shop Limited.

The company doesn’t have a location picked out for its commercial scale plant, but it’s looking to build alongside an existing chemical plant that might have extra land and utilities available. The other company might own and operate the facility, with Novoloop supplying the process and marketing know-how.

“Sometimes it’s hard for them to come across growth opportunities,” Wang said. “This is a way for them to access that growth opportunity while not having to learn a totally different market that they have to sell things into because we’re taking care of marketing and sales and the technology.”

Novoloop previously raised a $21 million Series A, which helped the company refine its process to the point where running shoe manufacturer On used its upcycled material for the tread of its Cloudprime sneaker.

The startup’s upcycled material, which it calls Lifecycled TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane), is made by breaking down polyethylene plastic into its basic building blocks, called monomers. From there, it synthesizes new polymers that are more valuable than the initial polyethylene. The resulting material is more expensive than virgin, but “within range,” Wang said.

Wang added that Novoloop’s experience with TPU has led the company to another business line, mechanically recycling TPU scraps from factory floors and adding “performance enhancers” to make it perform more like virgin material.

When it came time to build the demonstration plant, Novoloop priced out a facility in the U.S. But it quickly settled on India, where Aether Industries hadn’t just built a pilot plant but “a plant of pilots,” Wang said. “They have a plant of just a whole bunch of pilots.”

Aether’s experience with small-scale chemical manufacturing plants — coupled with its ability to reuse equipment from dismantled pilots — means that building and operating Novoloop’s plant would cost ten times less than simply building the small facility in the U.S.

“That is an environment we don’t have here,” Wang said.