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Recycling firm gets funding from Singapore to clean up Kalimantan, Sulawesi
The multinational plastic recycling joint venture plans to set up new waste management infrastructure, particularly in coastal communities on Kalimantan and Sulawesi.
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ndonesian recycling company Prevented Ocean Plastic Southeast Asia has received an undisclosed amount of funding from Singapore-based investment management firm Circulate Capital for establishing a network of 12 new high-volume collection centers and three new aggregation centers.
The new plastic waste management centers are to be located in coastal communities that have limited or no collection facilities across Indonesia, with a particular focus on the islands of Kalimantan and Sulawesi.
Prevented Ocean Plastic is a joint venture between Indonesia’s recycled plastic flakes manufacturer PT Polindo Utama, the United Kingdom’s recycled plastic bottle materials distributor Bantam Materials UK Ltd. and Circulate Capital.
“This partnership will enable us to develop waste collection infrastructure to meet the growing demand for traceable plastics while supporting communities outside of Java. We believe there is an opportunity to overcome the complex [waste] collection and sorting logistics in remote areas,” Polindo Utama CEO Daniel Law said in a statement on Tuesday.
The recycling company aims to reduce costs, streamline waste collection logistics and produce certified and traceable premium quality recycled plastics for supplying global markets.
“There is already an increasing global demand for high-quality, traceable plastics as governments in Europe and international markets mandate the use of recycled plastic in packaging and products,” said Bantam Materials UK director Raffi Schieir.
Prior to receiving the new funding through the Circulate Capital Ocean Fund (CCOF), Prevented Ocean Plastic established a flagship collection center in Bali to trial its business model.
The CCOF provides debt and equity financing to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups working in waste management, recycling and the circular economy in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Read also: Recycling start-ups say funding still challenging
As much as 72 percent of Indonesia’s plastic waste originates in rural regions and small and medium cities, but the waste collection rate is a mere 20 percent or less in rural and remote regions. Furthermore, waste management and recycling centers are relatively less established in smaller cities than in metropolitan areas.
Prevented Ocean Plastic estimates that, over a 10-year period, it can prevent 400,000 tons of plastic waste from entering the ocean and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 800,000 tons.
The company also said that the new collection facilities would create 1,000 direct jobs and offer a new income source for thousands of plastic waste collectors, most of who are women.
Read also: Informal waste collectors key to new recycling era
“This project has the potential to be a blueprint for best-in-class recycling and circular economy infrastructure across Southeast Asia,” said Circulate Capital founder and CEO Rob Kaplan.
Circulate Capital has raised US$146 million from three funding rounds since 2018, according to Crunchbase.
