Whalesbook
Scaling Chemical Recycling
PolyCycl has secured Series A funding with Rainmatter, the investment arm of Zerodha, leading the round. The company did not disclose the investment amount. The funding will be used to scale its chemical recycling technology, a critical step toward addressing India’s complex and growing plastic waste problem.
The capital will be deployed to initiate commercial projects in partnership with industrial collaborators. PolyCycl also plans to strengthen its engineering and operations teams and advance long-term licensing initiatives in both domestic and international markets. Engagement with petrochemical and downstream manufacturing partners remains a key focus area.
Innovative Plastic Conversion
Founded in 2016 by Amit Tandon, PolyCycl is a Chandigarh-based company focused on converting difficult-to-recycle plastic waste streams—such as low-grade, contaminated plastics, single-use polythene bags, and mixed polyolefin packaging—into hydrocarbon oils. These outputs can be reused by manufacturers to produce virgin plastics and other materials, enabling a circular economy where conventional mechanical recycling methods are ineffective.
Addressing a National Crisis
India generates nearly 9.3 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, a significant share of which consists of multi-layered and flexible plastics like food wrappers and sachets. These materials are extremely challenging to recycle, with conventional recycling methods recovering less than 1%, leaving most to be landfilled or incinerated—posing serious environmental and health risks.
Technological Readiness
PolyCycl’s system operates as a fully continuous process, capable of handling up to 100 tonnes of plastic waste per day per module. The company states that its technology has reached Technology Readiness Level 7 (TRL 7), indicating successful validation in extended industrial environments and readiness for commercial deployment. This positions PolyCycl to scale as chemical recycling gains momentum amid regulatory and sustainability-driven demand for higher recycling efficiency and material circularity.