Israeli waste-to-plastic startup raises 70 mn in latest funding round: Israeli waste-to-plastic startup UBQ Materials has raised USD 70 mn in a funding round led by Eden Global Partners to help fund its expansion to the US and European markets, according to a statement. UBQ previously raised USD 170 mn in 2021, and declined to disclose the company’s current valuation to Bloomberg.

Who else is in? Existing investors TPG Rise Climate, TPG Rise Fund II, Battery Ventures, and M&G’s Catalyst also contributed to this funding round.

About UBQ: UBQ has developed technology that transforms unsorted household waste into bio-based thermoplastics — raw materials needed for plastic manufacturing, according to their website. UBQ has produced plastic for car parts used in Mercedes-Benz vehicles and serving trays for McDonald’s in Latin America. The technology is able to use ordinary household waste such as half-eaten fast food, single-use plastic, and dirty diapers, Bloomberg explains.

If commercialized, the technology can help save tons of methane emissions: Keeping decomposing organic waste out of landfills and using it to create second-generation plastics instead could significantly cut methane emissions, a 2019 analysis by the Swiss environmental consulting firm Quantis commissioned by UBQ found, The Washington Post writes. Substituting a ton of UBQ’s plastic pellets for the same amount of oil-based polypropylene saves the equivalent of about 15 tons of CO2 emissions, Quantis concluded, adding that as little as 10% of its material can make the product carbon neutral depending on the type of plastic being created.

Polymer recycling is gaining traction in the region: Saudi oil giant Aramco, petrochemicals firm Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), and France’s TotalEnergies succeeded in converting oil derived from plastic waste into certified circular polymers for the first time in the MENA region last July. Morocco’s leading polyurethane foam and bedding brand Dolidol launched its greenfield plastic recycling business Dolicen earlier in June, while Japan’s Jeplan and Abu-Dhabi based recycling plastic trading platform Rebound signed a letter of intent to set up a recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) market in the UAE. Packaging solutions provider Felix Films received EUR 7 mn in April from the Egyptian Pollution Abatement Programme to help fund its EUR 16 mn plastic-to-PET project.