Advanced plastic recycling company Novoloop announced today it has raised $21 million, expanding its Series A financing from an original $11 million announced earlier this year. Proceeds from the financing will be used to scale the commercialization of the company’s “upcycling” process technology, which turns plastics that are often not recycled into high-performance chemicals and materials.

Novoloop was launched in 2015 by co-founders Jeanny Yao and Miranda Wang, The company is pioneering the chemical transformation of plastic waste into chemicals and materials, through a process technology, ATOD (Accelerated Thermal Oxidative Decomposition), that breaks down polyethylene into chemical building blocks that can be synthesized into new products. ATOD can upcycle the carbon content found in common plastic waste that is too low value for material recovery facilities to recover and sell and typically ends up incinerated or in landfills.

The financing round was led by the impact-focused entrepreneur community Mistletoe Singapore and energy solutions and materials company Hanwha Solutions.

Wang said:

“This round brings together mission-driven financial investors and industry strategics who believe in our vision of a circular economy for plastics. We’re thrilled to make that vision a reality by leveraging their access to resources and markets around the world.”

The first product based on Novoloop’s ATOD process is Oistre, a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) that can be used in high-performance applications such as footwear, apparel, sporting goods, automotive, and electronics. With the financing, the company aims scale-up pilot production to make the product more readily available for customers in these areas.

Hanwha Solutions’ Spokesman, said:

“Hanwha has done an extensive assessment of the advanced plastic recycling landscape. Novoloop’s technology is solid and unique. We look forward to collaborating with Novoloop on upcycling carbon content in waste for the circular economy.”

Novoloop stated that it also plans to set up a feedstock pretreatment unit to assess the quality of post-consumer plastic waste from material recovery sources.

Taizo Son, Founder of Mistletoe, said:

“After seeing Novoloop emerge from R&D with a product that solves real world problems, Mistletoe is a firm believer in the financial and environmental impact the company will create. We’re already looking at ways to amplify this impact in places that really need it like Asian countries where the economy is fast-growing and the waste problem is serious.”

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