TPG Rise invests in UBQ Materials to convert waste into recyclable plastic substitute

UBQ Materials, a thermoplastic developer based in Tel Aviv, Israel, has announced a $170 million funding round led by TPG Rise, TPG's global impact investing platform based in San Francisco. The company’s investment was made through TPG Rise Climate, its climate investing fund, and The Rise Funds, its multisector impact investing fund. 

According to a news release from UBQ, the investment will fund the company’s global expansion to meet growing demand. This includes building a large-scale facility in the Netherlands to be operational by the end of 2022. Funds from the round will also go into UBQ's continued research to advance certifications, research and development of new products.

TPG says the financing round also included participation from existing investors, Battery Ventures, and others such as M&G's Catalyst strategy, a U..K-based investor. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

UBQ’s conversion process uses the entire unsorted household and municipal waste stream.  The waste runs through multiple stages of automatic refinement, removing small particles of metals and minerals, which are sent to the correct recycling facilities. The material is then cleared as feedstock for a reactor, which causes a chemical reaction in the waste, breaking down the organic elements to their basic particulate components. This includes lignin, sugar, cellulose and various fibers. These components are reconstituted with melted plastics to create UBQ.

The process is compatible with materials like polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene. UBQ says its product can be used on its own and in conjunction with conventional oil-based resins to offset the overall carbon footprint of end products in industries including construction, automotive, logistics, retail and 3D printing.

"In addition to converting municipal waste into functional thermal plastics, UBQ's material solution is energy efficient, uses no water and produces no effluents," says Steve Ellis, co-managing partner of The Rise Funds. "UBQ can be utilized in a broad array of industrial and consumer applications. We're excited to be partnering with management to scale the business globally."

UBQ says more than 2 billion tons of municipal solid waste are produced every year globally, more than 70 percent of which end up in landfills or openly dumped. Landfills are the third-largest human source of methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over 20 years. 

"Waste is not the end, it is only the beginning," says Jack Bigio, co-founder and co-CEO of UBQ Materials. "This financing round enables us to widen the reach of our patented conversion technology and novel material, bringing us closer to a functioning circular economy worldwide."