• Project

An Investable Solution to a Plastic Catastrophe

Plastic is literally everywhere. You need only walk down the endless rows of plastic bottles and packaging on the supermarket shelves to see that. But as many of us are increasingly aware, the problem is much, much bigger than that.

Beach pollution: trash and plastic bottles on a sandy beach in Indonesia on the island of Bali.

Since plastic use became mainstream in the 1950s, annual production has surged nearly 230-fold, reaching 460 million tonnes in 2019. At least 8 million tonnes of plastic waste end up in our oceans every year, reaching a total concentration of 171 trillion pieces in 2023 and killing at least 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals per year. This omnipresent menace is also directly affecting humans, with microplastics having been found in human blood, lungs and breast milk, the health impacts of which we have yet to fully understand.

Despite greater efforts to combat this, our current systems are still deeply inefficient. Of all the plastics that have ever been produced, only a measly 9% have been recycled. This is particularly true in remote areas that lack even basic infrastructure and collection systems for plastic recycling. Tackling this crisis adequately will therefore require more efficient, replicable solutions, one of which could be pyrolysis.

What is Pyrolysis?

Pyrolysis is a process in which materials are heated without oxygen inside a reactor for conversion into other substances. In the case of plastics, it can be used to create liquid fuel or gas which can then be reused. Moreover, whereas mainstream recycling systems are often inefficient with low value or mixed plastic waste, pyrolysis can make use of almost all types of plastic except PET and PVC. Thus, pyrolysis represents a potential game changer, not only preventing the re-entry of plastics into the environment, but also creating a product from them that could financially incentivise bigger and more effective clean-up efforts.

Unfortunately, most plastic pyrolysis systems are of little use to remote communities, as they are either too small to be effective or too big and high-tech to be replicated. But in Indonesia, a project led by the company, Nomad Plastic, is looking to bring efficient pyrolysis to the country’s remote islands, while also safeguarding their precious marine ecosystems.

Plastics to Profit

Developed by Nomad Plastic in partnership with Geo Trash Management (GTM), Reform Plastic, and Seneca Impact Advisors, this project aims to establish a network of low-tech plastic pyrolysis micro-factories across Indonesia, in island communities that lack adequate waste disposal facilities and are too remote to be serviced by industrial recycling networks. Once established, local people will be paid to collect plastic waste from the surrounding environment, in exchange for diesel, petrol and other fuels for their boats derived from the pyrolysed plastic.

From a social, economic, logistical and environmental perspective, this project has multiple perks to it. Rural and remote communities make up over half of the population in emerging markets and according to estimates by Nomad Plastic, Indonesia alone has a potential market for over 500 plastic pyrolysis facilities, while Southeast Asia has a market for over 1,500. Moreover, the technology for these micro-factories has already been successfully deployed by Plastic Odyssey in remote communities in Africa, at a relatively modest capital expenditure.

Communities themselves likewise stand to gain greatly from these micro-factories. The aforementioned ones in Africa have been found to create 15 jobs per micro-factory. Having a centralised local facility for plastic recycling cuts transportation costs for communities that would otherwise have to take their waste to distant industrial facilities. Similarly, pyrolysis also allows them to save money on high fuel and energy prices.

As well as the obvious benefit of recycling plastic, the project can aid marine conservation in other ways. Profits from fuel sales can be used to finance marine protected areas and ecosystem restoration, while generating fuel locally reduces communities’ need to buy additional fossil fuel-based ones (though not emissions free, it is less polluting due to less sulphur in the fuel).

The Project

Beautiful scenery on the top of Padar Island, Komodo National Park, Labuan Bajo, Indonesia.

Nomad Plastics’ pyrolysis project will aim to build a coalition of NGOs, businesses, experts and other partners to provide technical expertise and project management assistance. Then, it will commence a pilot scheme in the Labuan Bajo area, a marine biodiversity hotspot that includes the famous Komodo National Park.

Under this scheme, the local community will be engaged in setting up a plastic pyrolysis micro-factory to convert low value plastic waste into fuel. This fuel will then be sold to other communities and cruise operators, with the profits being allocated for marine conservation. A tracking system will be used to measure impact and ensure transparency and standard compliance. ‘Plastic credits’ (similar to carbon credits) can provide an additional source of revenue.

In total, each micro-factory is expected to recycle up to 425 tonnes of plastic per year. By 2030, Nomad Plastics aims to have 100 such micro-factories deployed across Southeast Asia –recycling a total yearly capacity of more than 40,000 tonnes of plastic.

What the project needs now is partners –especially for research and development and quality control– and financing. For the latter, it is looking for up to US$ 1 million in grants or recoverable grants to finance the pilot scheme and bring the project to replication stage.

As an advisor to the project, Seneca will provide Nomad Plastics with support in obtaining these grants and later investments. After initial assessment of the project at its field site in Indonesia, a financial feasibility study will be conducted to identify ways to increase its viability. Seneca will also play a more direct role in fund raising, offering technical assistance and advice on obtaining grants and investments, preparing funding pitches and proposals, finding potential key funders, and advising its partners on funder engagement. Additionally, it will provide strategic advice to Nomad Plastics that will help it to eventually expand this project beyond Labuan Bajo, and service plastic waste-stricken communities across Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

With plastic waste touching every corner of our oceans and our lives, and our current disposal systems failing to make a meaningful dent, it is imperative that we invest in more efficient ways to clean it up. Projects like Nomad Plastics’ pyrolysis project offer a holistic approach to the problem, not only clearing up plastics, but in doing so, generating a financial means of support both for marine ecosystems and the communities who depend on them and plastic-free seas the most.

Author: Thomas Gomersall, Seneca Impact Advisors

For more information, please contact info@senecaimpact.earth