Meath, Ireland-based PET/polyester recycling company Novelplast and private equity firm Ocean 14 Capital Fund 1 SCSp have signed an investment deal and have partnered to continue growing Novelplast’s business.
Ocean 14 is a UK-based venture fund with a focus on blue and ocean sustainability technology founded in 2020. Three of Ocean 14 Capital fund's 12 published investments, which also include AION and Bureo, focus on solving the growing plastic waste problem by providing scalable circular solutions for customers across markets and industries. Ocean 14, which is backed by the Ikea group and the Monaco sovereign wealth fund, has reportedly invested some €10m for an unknown stake in the Irish recycler.
Founded in 2017, Novelplast has developed a unique manufacturing process using in-house expertise to upcycle post-industrial and post-consumer PET/polyester feedstocks into high quality rPET pellets, suitable for supply into the sheet, fibre and strapping industries.
“Over the last 5 years we have made huge progress in Novelplast, through expanding our product offering, increasing our sales annually and developing a sustainable company with the flexibility and expertise to continue growing into the future,” said Neil Skeffington, founder and CEO.
Novelplast has grown significantly in recent years and is now the biggest plastics recycler in Ireland. The company recently increased its capacity to meet demand by investing €2.5 million on a second line. The recycler is using the Ocean 14 funds to add 20 jobs and realise its plans to expand into the US and the Middle East.
“As an impact investor, the fund will bring a level of expertise in the sector as well as the capital required to help us achieve our goal of becoming one of the largest recyclers in the world, but more importantly to become one of the most responsible recyclers in the world,” said Skeffington.
With plastic waste and plastic pollution a key issue facing the planet and global plastic recycling rates currently still well below 10%, the recycling space has the potential to continue to grow and gain in importance, especially as the shift towards a more circular economy continues. Upcoming EU regulatory measures and consumer pressures are expected to accelerate this development further. With a global recycled plastics market valued at approximately $50 billion globally in 2022 and expected growth at a compound annual rate of roughly 7% (from 2022) to 2030, of which PET is projected to reach nearly $24 billion by 2030, the Ocean 14 Capital Fund’s investment in Novelplast would appear to be a particularly timely - and perspicacious - one.
Novelplast will be exhibiting this year at the Plastics Recycling Show Europe in Amsterdam, 19-20 June.