MacroCycle found a shortcut for plastic recycling — catch it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

MacroCycle, a startup co-founded by Stewart Peña Feliz, has developed an innovative plastic recycling technology that promises to make recycled plastic as inexpensive as virgin material. Unlike traditional chemical recycling methods that break down plastic polymers into monomers, MacroCycle’s process loops polymer chains into macrocycles, which allows contaminants to be washed away and later reforms the polymers without retracing all the energy-intensive steps. This approach uses 80% less energy than producing virgin polyester, significantly outperforming other chemical recycling processes that only reduce energy use by 20-30%. The company is scaling up production with a reactor capable of producing 100-kilogram batches and is already generating revenue from fashion brands interested in sustainable materials. Peña Feliz, who previously managed ExxonMobil’s chemical recycling plant, recognized the environmental and energy drawbacks of existing methods and pursued a more efficient solution in collaboration with MIT postdoc Jan-Georg Rosenboom. Since starting the business in 2022, MacroCycle has raised $6.5 million in seed