Catalyzing private capital for solutions to the plastic pollution crisis

In the small town of Tangerang, just outside Jakarta, two women saw an opportunity to turn the local waste management problem into a business. The waters around the Indonesian capital contain some of the highest levels of plastic waste of any sea in the world. Flowing past large populations and industry centers and through some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, millions of pieces of plastic find their way into the sea and wash up on beaches like those near Tangerang.

The women created Tridi Oasis, a company that recycles waste PET bottles into rPET flakes, which are sold to create packaging and textiles. Within three years, Tridi Oasis expanded its production capacity to 1,000 metric tonnes per year and began to sell its flakes internationally. But the sudden onset of the pandemic and challenges to enter the higher-priced European market proved hard to overcome.

In search for additional capital and technical support, the company received its first investment from Circulate Capital, a Singapore-based VC, in 2020. The investment accelerated Tridi Oasis’ growth and culminated into a joint venture with a global recycling and waste management company to scale its model and feed the growing appetite for recycled plastics in food and beverage.