Recycling Innovator ‘Terracle’ Raises KRW 10.5 Billion in Series A Funding
Terracle, a South Korean company specializing in the management of plastic waste and the manufacturing of recycled raw materials, has secured a Series A investment worth KRW 10.5 billion. This funding round was led by Envisioning Partners, with contributions from DSC Investment, Hyundai Motor Group’s ZER01NE Fund, Korea Development Bank (KDB), and Schmidt.
Terracle is engaged in the chemical recycling of plastic and textile waste to produce recycled raw materials, such as terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG). TPA, a foundational chemical material, finds extensive use across various industries, including in plastic packaging, textiles, films, engineering plastics, automobiles, and electronics. Notably, Terracle has achieved a milestone as the first company in South Korea to successfully produce commercial-scale high-purity recycled TPA (CR-TPA). It has also demonstrated its superior technological capabilities through a collaborative chemical recycling demonstration research project on vehicle waste parts with Hyundai Motor’s AVP Headquarters Basic Material Research Center.
The company’s recycling process has attracted attention for its minimal environmental impact. Unlike traditional recycling techniques that require high temperatures and pressures, Terracle’s process is conducted at atmospheric pressure and depolymerization temperatures below 60 degrees Celsius, offering significant energy efficiency advantages. In 2023, Terracle surpassed the recycling conversion rate standards set by the Ministry of Environment’s green technology certification, achieving a 97% conversion rate. It stands as the first and only company in South Korea to have received green technology certification in this field for its technology that produces monomers through chemical decomposition.
Bae Su-hyun, Director at Envisioning Partners, remarked, “I have been monitoring Terracle’s growth since its early days, when the team consisted of just five members. In just over two years, Terracle has swiftly developed the capability to mass-produce high-quality recycled materials with significantly lower energy consumption compared to existing methods. This demonstrates a clear value proposition for the industry in its transition towards decarbonization.”
The ZER01NE Fund, as a strategic investor, shared, “Hyundai Motor Group is actively engaged in various initiatives to create a sustainable vehicle value chain. We anticipate that Terracle’s depolymerization technology will play a crucial role from the perspective of resource circulation for parts derived from end-of-life vehicles.”
Terracle’s CEO, Kwon Ki-back, shared his vision: “Our goal is to offer a solution that enables the infinite recycling of plastic—the most convenient material ever created by mankind—without environmental pollution. Terracle aims to be a partner that helps clients to build a complete closed-loop system, enabling the recycling of waste materials that are difficult to process physically. This approach ultimately assists our clients in applying recycled materials back into their products, aiding in the transition to carbon neutrality.”
With the funds raised in this round, Terracle plans to establish a depolymerization facility with an annual production capacity of 4,000 tons in South Korea. The company aims to pursue resource circulation for materials previously considered difficult to recycle, such as waste plastics, textiles, automotive parts, and marine debris.
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