Interface Polymers, a Loughborough, UK-based start-up spun out from the University of Warwick in Coventry in 2016, has received an investment from GC Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PTT GC Ventures (GC). No amount has been disclosed. GC subsidiary allnex is also participating in the deal: the company has agreed to an extensive development partnership with Interface Polymers with the aim of using its technology to develop innovative resins to enable recyclable solutions for the packaging industry.
The investment from GC follows an earlier investment announcement from Evonik. That company’s Sustainability Tech Fund added Interface Polymers to its investment portfolio in March of this year.
Interface Polymers has now raised $8m in Series A funding and is looking forward to a commercial development plant start-up at year-end.
Led by CEO Ross Baglin, Interface has developed a range of additives, which the company is marketing under the name Polarfin, that address the compatibilisation issues occurring when recycling polyolefin plastics with different kinds of plastics such as PET, PA, EVOH and other plastics. They do so by modifying the properties of the polyolefins in such a way that the challenges presented by the low surface energy and non-polar character of polyolefin surfaces are overcome. Traditional methods of increasing the surface energy of flat polyolefin surfaces have required additional energy-intensive processes and costly equipment, and have not always been consistently successful. By contrast, Polarfin® comes in the form of pellets that are added to PP and PE at very low rates, making them more recyclable, easier to work with and enabling strong surface adhesion to plastics, paints and general adhesives. As a result, it becomes possible to recycle the mixed plastics widely used in food packaging chains across the world.
For GC, the investment strengthens GC's and allnex's position in performance polymers and plastics circularity. The companies were especially drawn to Interface by the potential of its technology to simplify the processing and reusability of widely used mixed plastics.
"Today, sustainability is key to business operations,” said Kamel Ramdani, senior vice president, Product Innovation and Innovation Management for GC. “Applying the circular economy principle to the closed-loop plastic waste management, recycling, and upcycling is necessary. This includes studying new innovations and accessing up-to-date technologies to help improve the use of plastic to better meet people's needs."
CEO Ross Baglin is ‘delighted’ to have GCV/allnex as investors and development partners respectively.
“We all know that we cannot go on consuming earth's resources and consigning the results to history. Polymers are a unique material made from the earth's bounty and extraordinary human ingenuity. They are too good to waste. Polarfin can help make polymers work for us, generation after generation,” he said.