Bemis Associates, Inc., a maker of plastic film used for adhesives, has made a major investment in plastic upcycling technology company Novoloop.
Bemis’ investment is part of Novoloop’s $11 million in Series A financing. The funding was led by Envisioning Partners with participation from Valo Ventures and Bemis Associates. Earlier investors who joined the round included SOSV, Mistletoe and TIME Ventures.
Novoloop’s technology can upcycle carbon content found in common plastic waste like grocery bags, packaging, and agricultural plastics that is too low value for material recovery facilities to bale and sell. The first product based on Novoloop’s ATOD process is Oistre (OYST-rah), a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) for use in high-performance applications such as footwear, apparel, sporting goods, automotive, and electronics.
Bemis said “Oistre is the first TPU made from post-consumer polyethylene waste that matches the performance characteristics of virgin TPUs made from petrochemicals. At the same time, based on initial screening life-cycle analysis, Oistre’s carbon footprint could be up to 46 percent smaller than conventional TPUs. Together, the companies plan to introduce Oistre into the Bemis product portfolio as a first step to replace virgin petroleum-based thermoplastic polyurethane.”
Bemis said in a statement, “Novoloop’s technology offers an opportunity for a significant impact. Not only would scaling Novoloop’s technology throughout the Bemis value chain have a meaningful reduction in carbon footprint, it would also mean that a previous source of waste would be diverted from landfills and upcycled into a more sustainable Bemis product.”
Bemis is the developer of apparel bonding solutions such as seam tapes, which can be found in high-performance outerwear. Together, Bemis and Novoloop will introduce Oistre into the Bemis product portfolio as a first step to replace virgin petroleum-based thermoplastic polyurethane.
