MacroCycle secures US$6.5M to advance PET upcycling technology

USA – MacroCycle Technologies, a Cambridge-based innovator in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyester textile upcycling, has raised US$6.5 million in seed financing.

The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures and Volta Circle, with participation from KDT Ventures and Neotribe Ventures.

The funding will enable MacroCycle to expand its operations by 50% and scale its pilot plant facilities to commercialize its upcycled PET and polyester resin with initial customers.

Plastic production and disposal account for more than 5% of global CO₂ emissions, yet only 15% of plastics are currently recycled—the rest ends up in landfills, waterways, or incineration.

Despite industry efforts, two key challenges hinder large-scale recycling: contamination and high energy costs.

Sorting mixed, contaminated plastics and breaking them down into reusable materials has been too costly to replace fossil fuel-derived plastics effectively.

“Global plastic waste is projected to triple in the next 40 years, and existing recycling methods are not viable for processing plastic and textile waste at scale,” said Temple Fennell, Managing Partner at Clean Energy Ventures.

“MacroCycle’s upcycling solution addresses this crisis by creating an economically and environmentally circular plastics supply chain.”

Catia Cesari, Managing Partner at Volta Circle, emphasized the company’s competitive edge in energy efficiency and its ability to upcycle low-grade feedstocks.

“MacroCycle’s team, technology, and ambition align perfectly with our mission to support leading circular economy innovators. We’re excited to back their journey toward global impact,” she said.

MacroCycle’s proprietary technology upgrades plastic waste into virgin-grade PET, using nontoxic reagents in a process that requires 80% less energy than fossil-based PET production and 50-75% lower capital investment compared to traditional chemical or biological recycling methods.

“There’s a US$700 billion plastics market, but today’s recycling technologies remain too expensive to scale, yielding low-value products,” said Stewart Pena Feliz, MacroCycle’s CEO.

“Our process offers a cost-effective, drop-in replacement for fossil-based plastics and a scalable solution for true plastic circularity.” 

MacroCycle’s technology stems from research led by Co-founder and CTO Jan-Georg Rosenboom and his colleagues at MIT, ETH Zurich, and Politecnico di Milano.

With early backing from the Breakthrough Energy Fellows program, the company progressed from lab-scale testing to a pilot reactor at The Engine Accelerator. 

The company aims to recycle PET bottles and polyester textile waste from industries with high packaging waste footprints, including cosmetics, textiles, home goods, food & beverage, and fashion.

Its first pilot plant will validate large-scale production and create the first bottles and garments made entirely from its recycled PET resin.

With its efficient, low-cost process, MacroCycle is poised to reshape the future of plastics recycling, offering a scalable path to circularity in a market hungry for sustainable alternatives.

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