Milestone funding for plastics recycling pioneer – Daily Business

Scottish start-up ReVentas, which has developed technology to re-use plastic, has secured funding enabling it to move to commercial operation over the next three years.

Recycling rates are currently around 9% globally due to the complex composition of materials, their colour and the contamination they have picked up.

This results in most of it being incinerated. Any plastic that is recycled is often downcycled into low value applications.

Livingston-based ReVentas’s technology filters these contaminants to produce re-usable plastic that can be sold to customers who would otherwise use virgin plastic.

The company has secured Series A funding from Orlen VC, Beiersdorf Venture Capital, and Scottish Enterprise.

Tom Rose, CEO of ReVentas, said: “This investment marks a major milestone for ReVentas and in moving the recycling of plastic forward.

“Plastics are an essential part of our world, but so far, the industry has failed to provide workable solutions at-scale to deal with the impact they have on our environment.

“ReVentas (is) providing a simple solution which can change this, ensuring the waste we produce today, can and will be directly used in the products we buy tomorrow.” 

Derek Shaw, director of entrepreneurship and investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Our investment support is focused on helping Scotland’s most innovative and ambitious companies to grow and scale, creating impactful economic change.

“ReVentas is a shining example of this, by working in an area where Scotland has global strengths to develop innovative solutions for one of the biggest global environmental challenges we face right now.”

Beiersdorf Venture Capital and Orlen VC will join LG Chem and others as strategic partners of ReVentas to support the scale up of the technology.

The funding will support ReVentas’s first commercial 10,000 tonne per annum plant, planned for operation in 2027 and an additional 140,000 tonnes planned to be brought online by 2031.

Marek Garniewski, President of the Management Board of ORLEN VC, said: “EU regulations mandate that 10% of packaging materials must come from recycled sources by 2030.

“However, Europe faces significant shortages of high-quality, secondary raw materials suitable for reuse in production. Meeting this obligation will be a challenge, but we see it as a business opportunity.

“Through this latest nvestment in cutting-edge recycling technology, we aim to leverage it effectively.”

Ascan Voswinckel, head of venture capital at Beiersdorf, said: “We strongly believe in the potential of the ReVentas technology as it bridges a crucial gap in circular PE/PP usage.

“As investor and strategic partner, we engage with leading startups like Reventas along the entire value chain to drive innovative, more circular solutions for us and the cosmetics industry.”