Circulate Capital, the Singapore-based investment management company focused on preventing plastic from leaking into the ocean and advancing the circular economy, announced that the Circulate Capital Ocean Fund (CCOF) has committed to investing US$19 million in four leading companies that are using technology and innovation to scale and transform India’s waste management and recycling value chain.

The four companies selected are Srichakra Polyplast, Rapidue Technologies (Recykal), Deeya Panel Products (Ricron) and Dalmia Polypro Industries. The newly announced commitments combined with previously announced investments in Lucro Plastecycle (Lucro) and Nepra Resources Management will see more than US$39 million invested in India. According to the statement, this also forms part of Circulate Capital’s commitment to dedicating half of CCOF's US$106 million of capital to the waste management and recycling industry in India.

Established in partnership with PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Dow, Danone, Chanel, Unilever, The Coca-Cola Company and Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem), CCOF is the world’s first investment fund dedicated to combat ocean plastic in South and Southeast Asia. CCOF’s portfolio includes seven companies in the waste management and recycling industry, including six in India and one in Indonesia.

Commenting on CCOF’s latest investments, Rob Kaplan, CEO and Founder, Circulate Capital, said, “At a time of tremendous uncertainty, the six companies in our India portfolio are positioned to help the country build back sustainably and transform from a linear to circular economy. Combined, they will directly create over 6,600 safe, stable and dignified jobs while preventing 5 million metric tonnes of plastic pollution from entering the environment by 2030. Supported by the Swachh Bharat Mission and strong demand from brand owners, India is well placed to provide a blueprint for plastic circularity to improve livelihoods and build back better globally.”

Scaling and transforming India’s waste management and recycling value chain with catalytic capital CCOF’s new portfolio companies include small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are pioneers in the waste management sector and are disrupting the recycling value chain. Srichakra (Hyderabad) and Dalmia (Mumbai) pioneered plastic recycling in India and are poised to become first movers in developing food-grade, bottle-to-bottle recycling. Ricron (Ankleshwar) recognised that difficult to manage, low value multi-layer plastic waste was one of the largest contributors to ocean pollution and have spearheaded innovation to upcycle this waste to develop high quality, eco-friendly materials for building applications. Lucro (Mumbai) harnesses the possibilities of flexible plastic waste to manufacture recycled flexible packaging products, truly closing the loop on this difficult to recycle material, while Nepra (Ahmedabad) is the largest collector and processor of dry waste in India. Recykal (Hyderabad) is India’s first ‘waste-commerce’ company with digital solutions enabling an efficient and effective waste and recycling industry and transparent and traceable transactions between all stakeholders.