The upcycling plastic waste start-up has also announced a new joint development partnership with apparel bonding specialist Bemis Associates and plans to use the funding to introduce its new performance apparel product Oistre into the Bemis product portfolio.
Novoloop explains introducing its Oistre technology into the Bemis product portfolio will act as a first step toward replacing virgin petroleum-based themoplastic polyurethane.
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Oistre has evolved from the company’s proprietary process technology, known as Accelerated Thermal Oxidative Decomposition (ATOD), which aims to break down polyethylene into chemical building blocks that can be synthesised into high-value products.
Novoloop explains that polyethylene is the most widely used plastic today yet only 9% is recycled and virtually none is upcycled. It is for this reason the company has used its ATOD process to develop Oistre, a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) that means plastic waste can be used in high-performance applications such as footwear and apparel.
Oistre is said to be the first TPU made from post-consumer polyethylene waste that matches the performance characteristics of virgin TPUS made from petrochemicals.
Plus, Novoloop also explains its carbon footprint is up to 46% smaller than conventional TPUS.
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By GlobalData“Plastics are not going away anytime soon, so we need to innovate to close the gap between what is produced and what is repurposed,” Novoloop co-founder and CEO Miranda Wang says:
Bemis director of sustainability Ben Howard adds: “Novoloop’s technology is a major breakthrough for our supply chain. Scaling it will be a huge step in shifting away from virgin petroleum sources and reducing our products’ carbon footprints”.
Novoloop says it is currently sampling and taking pre-orders for Oistre 65A, which is a soft grade polyester TPU for injection molding especially suitable for footwear applications. It adds that higher durometer grades of Oistre TPU will be introduced soon.
Novoloop co-founder and COO Jeanny Yao notes the funding will be used to complete pilot scale-ups and to commercialise the process technology, which she describes as a “circular economy revolution for plastics”.
The $11m Series A financing was led by venture capital firm Envisioning Partners with participation from technology investment firm Valo Ventures and Bemis Associates.
