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Plastic recycling startup Novoloop has inked a deal with a major manufacturer to produce its upcycled thermoplastic polyurethane at commercial scale, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.<\/p>\n
The agreement helps nudge the Menlo Park-based Novoloop through the so-called \u201cvalley of death<\/a>\u201d that many climate tech startups must slog through.\u00a0<\/p>\n Startups that depend on hardware are particularly susceptible to stumbling in the valley, the dreaded moment when they\u2019ve proven their initial technology and have not generated sufficient revenues from selling their product.<\/p>\n Under the terms of the deal, Novoloop will supply Huide Science and Technology with a chemical building block used to make thermoplastic polyurethane. Novoloop makes the material, known as a polyol, from post-consumer polyethylene waste like plastic bags, one of the hardest materials to recycle.<\/p>\n Thermoplastic polyurethanes, or TPU, are a type of plastic that\u2019s used in everything from running shoes to medical devices.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor this product line, we have essentially achieved what would be the commercial relationship,\u201d Novoloop co-founder and CEO Miranda Wang told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n At this point, Novoloop is constrained in its ability to supply polyols, Wang said. Earlier this year in India, the startup commissioned its demonstration plant<\/a>, which is capable of producing tens of tons of the material per year.<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco<\/span> The demonstration plant\u2019s capacity is sufficient to produce enough TPU for \u201cmajor pilot projects,\u201d Wang said, including one for a footwear customer that will be announced in the coming months. Previously, Novoloop supplied Swiss shoe manufacturer On with its Lifecycled material for the tread of its Cloudprime sneaker<\/a>.<\/p>\n Deals like the one with Huide will be key for the Novoloop\u2019s progress, Wang said. \u201cThe biggest hurdle to profitability is economies of scale,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of the focus next year will be driving a lot of these customer deals to close so that we can finance the [commercial-scale] facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n Once the deals and financing fall into place, Novoloop expects to have its commercial plant up and running in early 2028, Wang said. The first version should be able to supply enough polyols to produce about 16,000 tons of TPU annually.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we can run the materials at those types of volumes, we expect to be able to be at price parity with virgin TPUs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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