Magorium co-founder Chu Xian
Soon after being announced as the winner of Singapore’s waste-tech startup competition WASTE 20/20, organised by StartupX in partnership with Enterprise Singapore and The Incubation Network, e27 decided to interview Magorium co-founder Chu Xian to find out more about its vision.
The startup recently received prize money of approximately US$19,000 and managed to outshine over 100 waste-tech startups that had applied for the competition from over 32 countries globally.
The issues of plastic waste have been prevalent throughout the world but have mostly been a major social issue in Southeast Asia, excluding Singapore. Without a viable recycling solution, plastic waste is indiscriminately burned releasing cancerous and pollutive emissions.
While many companies are striving to solve this issue, the lack of strict protocols on plastic production and consumption, coupled with lack of public awareness has led to an increased level of pollution.
Founded last year by Xian and Adriel Ng, Magorium aims to solve the converts plastic into polymers, which are then used to produce high-quality bitumen used for road construction.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
How did you come up with the idea of Magorium?
Having experience in the construction industry, the technology was initially an attempt to create more sustainable construction material.
Through years of R&D, we found ourselves not only a better performing alternative material but also an effective plastic waste recycling solution.
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What makes Magorium different from others who are already in the business?
Our technology can recycle a wider range of plastic types and incorporate a higher percentage of it into the roads. Hence, we believe that ours is a more effective recycling solution.
Can you share with us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your startup? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
When we first started, we approached different stakeholders essential to the success of our technology – the waste management companies, construction companies and the relevant authorities regarding commercialisation and adoption of our technology. There were substantial pushbacks from all the stakeholders as everyone was waiting for the first party to come onboard before following.
It was really frustrating trying to navigate the whole chicken and egg situation. We did not consider giving up, but it did feel quite helpless and we considered commercialising this technology outside Singapore instead. The drive to not give up stemmed from my team’s belief that our technology is one of the most viable and effective plastic waste solutions to date. If we held that belief and still gave up, I suppose you could say that we would truly feel to some degree responsible for the worsening plastic waste crisis.
What are the industry challenges you have observed that concerned you to jump into this space?
The largest challenge is the underlying problem: lack of market/ demand for recycled plastic. The common perception is attributing the plastic recycling problem to “people do not recycle properly or don’t want to recycle”. But the truth is that even if people were recycling properly, there is no technology to convert all these recycled plastic into a product which has a market. The properly recycled plastics would have nowhere to go.
Upon identifying the true problem, we realised that our technology could potentially be the solution to this problem as road infrastructure is a necessity worldwide. In converting it into a material to build roads, we are giving plastic waste a new lease of life as valuable feedstock with stable demand.
What is the roadmap for your company going forward?
We want to be able to further our R&D to increase the efficacy of our technology as a recycling solution and continue forming more partnerships with relevant stakeholders.
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We are also planning on scaling into the Southeast Asia market where plastic waste is one of the largest problems.
How has COVID-19 affected your startup?
Our startup is reliant on the demand for road infrastructure materials. In Singapore, there were a few months where the majority of construction works stopped. This significantly slowed down our progress.
During the circuit breaker, an additional 1,334 tonnes of plastic waste was generated from takeaways or online shopping. These habits which developed during circuit breaker emphasises our reliance on plastic and the urgency to find a viable solution.
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Image Credit: Magorium
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