CEFC backs enzyme recycling
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) is backing an ‘infinite recycling’ scheme.
Australian enviro-tech startup, Samsara Eco has raised $54 million in a Series A funding round as it prepares to scale its infinite recycling technology.
With an investment now totalling $9.1 million, the CEFC is among the groups backing the Samsara Eco technology to overcome the constraints of existing recycling techniques and help lower Australia’s carbon footprint.
In partnership with the Australian National University (ANU), Samsara launched last year having developed a new way to infinitely recycle plastic to help end the plastic pollution crisis. Samsara’s ground-breaking technology uses enzymes to break plastic down to its core building blocks, which can then be used to recreate brand new, virgin-quality plastic, again and again.
The capital round is being used to grow the company’s engineering team, develop its library of plastic-eating enzymes and fund its first commercial facility which will facilitate the infinite recycling of 20,000 tonnes of plastic from 2024. Samsara is also looking into expanding its operations into Europe and North America.
“Plastic is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century and provides enormous utility because of its durability, flexibility and strength. Yet, plastic is an environmental disaster, with almost every piece of the nine billion tonnes ever made still on the planet,” says Paul Riley, CEO and Founder of Samsara.
“You can’t solve the climate crisis unless you solve the plastics crisis.
“Unlike other alternative recycling practices, our process is economical, with a low carbon footprint and allows for the effective recycling of challenging plastics including coloured, multi-layered or mixed plastics and textiles.
“Our technology means we have enough plastic in the world already and with our technology you never need to produce plastic from fossil fuels again,” Mr Riley says.
CEFC chief Ian Learmonth says “the ability to infinitely recycle plastic provides an important option to tackle the enormous challenge of plastic recycling that we face today”.
“The CEFC has now recommitted to back Samsara’s innovative technology, which is a welcome and necessary solution to the major challenge of plastic recycling, increasing recovery rates and reducing the volume of plastic that ends up in landfill.”