The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (Alliance) and Plug and Play announced today its 11 finalists for the Asia Pacific hub of the End Plastic Waste Innovation Platform – 90-day accelerator programme that supports startups on their innovations in ending plastic waste. The competitive via a virtual Selection Day was organized from Singapore. This is the organisers’ third selection hub, following successful programmes in Silicon Valley and Paris.
Today, some three billion people in the world have limited to no access to municipal solid waste management systems. For example, according to a World Economic Forum’s National Plastic Action Report on Indonesia, 70% of Indonesia’s plastic waste, or an estimated 4.8 million tonnes per year, is considered mismanaged. In many countries in the region, plastic waste is openly dumped or burned on land, deposited in poorly managed dumpsites, or leaked into waterways and ultimately the ocean.
The first to be held in Asia Pacific, the programme is designed to focus on three areas: collecting, managing and sorting plastic waste; recycling and processing technologies; and creating value from post-recycled plastics. The accelerator programme will help selected startups seek funding from companies and investors, along with a range of global resources to address these focus areas.
The 11 selected startups are from Australia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and UAE:
- Agile Process Chemical LLP – Recycling plastics, transparently. Leading technology and machinery supplier for recycling end-of-life plastic waste.
- Banyan Nation – Unlocking the market for premium recycled plastics in India through technology innovations across the value chain.
- Bintix – Bintix brings the data dimension into waste management, where all household waste is recycled and doesn’t end up in a landfill, and the value of waste increases ten-fold.
- BlockTexx – BlockTexx is a clean technology company that recovers polyester and cellulose from textiles and clothing.
- BluePhin Technologies – BluePhin is a smart robot that can collect floating waste in commercial water bodies.
- Ishitva Robotic Systems Pvt Ltd – Ishitva designs & builds automated solutions using Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and IoT for sorting and segregation of dry waste including plastic waste.
- Myanmar Recycles – Myanmar Recycles is a plastic film recycling facility specializing in post-consumer plastic that collects, sorts, washes, and pelletizes often ignored, hard-to-recycle plastic film into resin for domestic and international sale.
- Plastics For Change – Plastics For Change has developed a marketplace platform that connects waste-pickers to global markets and ensures a consistent supply of high quality recycled plastic for brands.
- PolyCycl – PolyCycl’s patented technology chemically recycles waste plastics to petrochemical feedstock that has been approved for the manufacturing of new monomers and plastics.
- Re>Pal – Re>Pal recycles 100% mixed waste plastics from Indonesia into logistic pallets for sale across Asia from our factory in East Java.
- Rekosistem – Rekosistem is an end-to-end zero waste management startup that aims for sustainable ecosystems via digital solutions and renewable energy.
Nicholas Kolesch, Vice President of Projects for the Alliance to End Plastic Waste said: “We’re delighted to welcome all 11 finalists to the End Plastic Waste Innovation Platform. Together with the start-ups that have been selected from the Silicon Valley and Paris programmes, we now have a total of over 30 startups all over the world pushing new ideas and technologies in support of our mission.”
He added: “Our unique partnership with Plug and Play has allowed us to support future-forward ideas and solutions that could help us address a critical issue of global proportions.”
The End Plastic Waste Innovation a collaboration and shared vision by the Alliance, an international non-profit organisation, and Plug and Play, a global innovation platform. This platform taps into the best technology startups and links them with the resources, experience, and expertise from the world’s largest corporations so their innovations can be brought to scale.
“I could not be prouder and more excited to launch our third End Plastic Waste Innovation Hub. Together with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, we will be able to accelerate the growth of these 11 innovative startups and scale their plastic wastes solutions in the areas that need it the most,” said Matthew Claxton, Global Director of Plug and Play’s Sustainability program.
The End Plastic Waste Innovation Platform has hubs in two other cities—Paris and Silicon Valley. For further information, please visit: https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/end-plastic-waste/