Polystyvert, a polystyrene recycling company, announced that it’s closed $4.9 million in financing.
The round included Anges Québec members, Anges Québec Capital, Cycle Capital Management, BDC Capital, and Sustainable Development Technology Canada. The funding will allow the company to scale up its equipment and facilities. The company said that, as more businesses in the greater Montreal area adopt its services, its tech can reduce the amount of polystyrene — more commonly known as styrofoam — that ends up in landfills and reduce greenhouse gases.
“With this financing, not only can we begin acquiring the equipment we need to grow, but it also takes us one step closer to our ultimate goal of making polystyrene recycling accessible all across Quebec, Canada, and eventually the world,” said Solenne Brouard Gaillot, president of Polystyvert. “The Montreal plant will be the first facility built around our innovative recycling process. It’s the first plant of its kind in the world.”
Polystyvert was a participant in the fall 2015 cohort of Ecofuel Accelerator. With Polystyvert, companies in syrofoam-intensive sectors — such as the pharmaceutical industry, the fish business, and furniture and appliance retailers — can recycle a material that has traditionally been difficult to reuse. Polystyvert’s technology allows customers to put polystyrene in a large container inside their premises, where polystyrene is immersed in essential oil and dissolved. The concentrator then separates the essential oil and the primary material (polystyrene).
The recycled material can be reused into products like food product trays, commercial packaging, and wall insulation. The general public can also recycle their styrofoam at Polystyvert facilities by using drop-off points at the Granby or Waterloo municipal recycling centres.
“The green technology developed by Polystyvert is simple, exportable, and effective in meeting a range of different needs. It’s a groundbreaking solution that significantly reduces the economic and financial impacts of polystyrene,” said Marianne Lépinoit, member of Anges Québec and founding Partner of HexaB Consulting. “Solenne is a visionary entrepreneur with the foresight to put together a strong team of strategic partners and the open mind needed to get a project like this off the ground.”