ImpactAlpha, January 24 – Chile is one of a small number of countries in Latin America that ban or restrict certain single-use plastics. Santiago-based BioElements is betting that demand for green alternatives in the region will increase as countries move away from single-use plastics.
The company’s resin-based materials decompose in landfills and compost bins in as little as six months.
Its $30 million financing round, led by Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual, will support BioElements’ plastic alternatives for the broader food and beverage industry. “Packaging is an important social and environmental problem, and investors are also seeing it that way,” said BioElements’ Ignacio Parada.
Green polyester
Separately, Fairbrics in Paris is making polyester, a carbon-intensive synthetic material, greener by recycling CO2 emissions in the manufacturing process. Roughly a third of the fashion industry’s carbon emissions come from polyester production, the company says.
Fairbrics secured a €17 million grant from Horizon Europe, the E.U.’s €95.5 billion research and innovation program, to build a demonstration plant. The company’s pilot partners are kicking in an additional €5 million.
