CEMEX Ventures Invest in Santa Ana's Arqlite

This O.C. Startup is Saving Marine Life & Helping the Construction Industry

CEMEX Ventures, CEMEX's Corporate Venture Capital an open innovation unit, today announced its investment in Arqlite SPC, a US company based in Santa Ana, California and winner of the 2019 Construction Startup Competition.

Arqlite SPC processes unrecyclable plastic waste into artificial gravel that avoids the use of natural quarry aggregates and boulders in the production of light concrete with a low CO₂ footprint, and installs drainage beds for construction and landscaping.

One million plastic bottles are purchased every minute and 500 billion plastic bags are used annually.

In addition, eight million tons end up in oceans every year, threatening marine life. For this reason, CEMEX Ventures and Arqlite SPC offer a low-cost technological solution, capable of processing the vast majority of plastic waste as raw material. Due mainly to the lack of environmental awareness and existing technological limitations, it is estimated that only 7% of the 300 million tons of plastic waste generated is finally recycled.

“Plastic waste processing is a global problem with no large-scale solution so far. We believe that, due to the large volume of material used by the construction industry, we can recycle much of this plastic waste, making us a solution to this problem, while generating construction materials with better functionality and a lower carbon footprint. That is why this investment has a double mission: to help mitigate the great problem of plastic waste and, simultaneously, to produce construction materials with a low CO₂ footprint," said Cristina Aparicio, Head of CEMEX Ventures investment in Arqlite.

Arqlite SPC installs version 2.0 of its technology in its new factory in Santa Ana, California, based on developments in Argentina.

This new production plant has machinery from different European countries, which, added to the technology designed by the company itself locally, will reach a capacity of 18 thousand tons per year. Its location is strategic for CEMEX, since it is within the radius of several of its concrete and aggregate operations in the California area.

Sebastián Sajoux, CEO and founder of Arqlite SPC, said, “Our technology can become a key player in a large market industry. We have developed a large-scale solution to a large-scale problem.”’

In addition, Arqlite already has agreements to recycle plastics from large generators throughout the Los Angeles region and works with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to continue innovating in the construction industry.

“For Arqlite SPC, being part of the Global Construction Startup Competition 2019 was very important because working together and being validated by a company like CEMEX Ventures opens new doors for us and helps our brand, which is still small, to reach other large companies that are open to receiving us and hearing about our proposal.”

This investment by CEMEX Ventures is part of CEMEX's ambition to deliver net-zero CO₂ concrete to all of its customers globally by 2050, as this solution uses practically all types of plastics as raw material, preventing them from ending up in landfills or unsustainable destinations.

CEMEX Ventures has joined as investor to Kamay Ventures, venture capital fund of Grupo Arcor SAIC and Coca Cola Argentina, and Chris Graff, founder of NYC Curb-To-Market Challenge, and successful businessman in the manufacturing industry, among others.

SOURCE: Cascade Communications