Plastic takeout containers, snack wrappers, and food packaging are everywhere. And most of them end up in landfills or incinerators. But one Chinese company is proving that this trash doesn’t have to be the end of the story.
As reported by 36Kr, Remo Environmental Protection, a recycling startup founded in 2015, just secured new backing from Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ikea’s parent company, along with continued support from Asahi Kasei to flip the script on plastic waste.
The investment will help Remo scale its technology, expand production, and bring its recycled plastics to more global markets.
Remo has developed advanced recycling methods that give everyday plastic waste a second life. Through high-tech sorting, deep cleaning, and melt filtration, the company produces polypropylene and polyethylene with performance nearly identical to new plastic.
The result is safe, durable materials that can be used again in textiles, toys, car parts, and even food packaging, as well as less plastic headed to landfills. Its materials have passed tough safety standards, including U.S. Food and Drug Administration certification.
For consumers, that breakthrough could mean more reliable packaging and products made from recycled materials without sacrificing safety or quality. The technology also cuts down on the health risks linked to poorly recycled plastics, which often contain impurities and degrade quickly into microplastics.
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Remo already supplies its materials to global brands in Europe, the U.S., and Japan, and plans to set up branches overseas to be closer to customers. With China generating the world’s largest stream of plastic food packaging waste, the company’s model has the potential to shift how the recycling industry operates worldwide.
Investors see it as a crucial step toward closing the loop on plastics. Lukas Visser, head of circular investments at Ingka Group, said, “We hope to further expand this influence through this investment, help solve the global plastic waste problem, and promote the transformation to a circular economy.”
Pontus Erntell, president and chief sustainability officer of IKEA China, added that the deal reflects a long-term commitment from the company.
“To continuously meet the needs of current and future generations of consumers, we have both the responsibility and the opportunity to lead the accelerated transformation of the circular economy outside the IKEA system,” he said.
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