NE BUSINESS BUREAU
ANKLESHWAR, DEC 10
Circulate Capital, the Singapore-based investment management company focused on preventing plastic from leaking into the ocean and advancing the circular economy, on Thursday announced that the Circulate Capital Ocean Fund (CCOF), the world’s first investment fund dedicated to combating ocean plastic in South and Southeast Asia, has made a strategic investment in Gujarat-based Deeya Panel Products Pvt Ltd (Ricron), a release said.
Commenting on the milestone, Rahul Chaudhary, Co-founder, and CEO, Ricron said, “We are firm believers and practitioners of the circular economy and recognise the blue ocean opportunity to capture the value of difficult to manage multi-layer plastic waste by transforming it into useful materials. The team at Ricron is proud to have spearheaded innovation to upcycle this waste into high quality, eco-friendly materials that are well regarded by the building industry. We look forward to working with Circulate Capitaland its partners to further our mission by creating quality, innovative solutions at scale, to capture the growing demand for sustainable building materials.”
Commenting on the commitment, Rob Kaplan, CEO and Co-founder, Circulate Capital said, “We believe Ricron’s unique solution has the potential to play an important part in transforming the waste management and recycling value chain in the country and we look forward to supporting them on this journey.”
Multi-layer plastic (MLP) packaging, such as chip packets and chocolate wrappers, is one of the largest contributors to ocean pollution globally and presents a unique challenge for India’s waste management and recycling industry. While it is a favoured form of packaging due to its affordability and long shelf-life, it is difficult to recycle, seeing most of it ending up in landfills or the environment, or being incinerated.
Ricron has found a solution to this challenge, by giving new life to low-value multilayer plastic waste. Through an innovative proprietary process, the company transforms this waste into high performing, cost-effective recycled materials that offer an alternative to common building materials, such as plywood. Ricron’s products include sustainable flat boards and panels for a variety of furniture, construction, and building applications. The recycled materials are 100% eco-friendly and offer long-term utility being fire-resistant, water and dustproof, and termite-proof.
As one of the largest MLP recyclers in India, Ricron has diverted approximately 80,000 tons of waste from the environment over the last eight years. In 2020 alone, the company recycled 1,900 tons of plastic – the equivalent of more than 38 million toothpaste tubes–saving over 1,200 trees from being used by the building industry. The company is also a zero-waste discharge company, meaning there is no waste from its operations as all materials are recycled and reused.
To date, Circulate Capital has committed US$39 million to form the largest investment portfolio dedicated to fighting plastic pollution and advancing the circular economy for plastic waste in India.
