Protonera
We turn plastics into low-carbon hydrogen and building blocks to produce new plastics.
Company Details
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Website
- https://www.protonera.com
- Founded
- 2023
- Employees
- 1-3
- Funding
- Bootstrapped
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About Protonera
The problem we're solving:
Plastic waste is one of the world's biggest problems, but there are no methods or tools to make recycling profitable in developed countries.Our solution:
Protonera has developed a proprietary catalyst-driven process that converts plastics into hydrogen and new plastics with a lower carbon footprint and a higher profit margin.Our differentiator:
We degrade plastics at 60 °C to produce fuel-cell-grade hydrogen without purification. An independent life cycle analysis of our process shows a 64% lower carbon footprint than refuse disposal (~90% of waste plastics). An independent technoeconomic analysis indicates a 16% internal rate of return, which remains negative on current recycling methods (mechanical recycling).
Our biggest achievement:
We have demonstrated the ability to treat 100 g of plastic rejects that would otherwise be sent for incineration with our system for hydrogen and new polymer production. We are working with one of the world's largest soft-drink bottling companies and our local council to start our drive for global impact to realise value creation from plastics, and treat this overlooked fossil-fuel product as a resource for clean energy.Disclaimer:
Information for this page was sourced directly from the startups or found in publicly available databases. The data has been collected until the end of the programme's year (eg: A 2020 programme has data updated until December 2020) except for where explicitly said so. The data on co-founders is collected upon startup registration and is not further updated. Funds raised is comprised of direct investments (including crowdfunding), funds, and grants. Opinions, conclusions and views expressed in the startup page are solely personal to the author (startup), unless otherwise clearly stated.