Recycling process targets hard-to-recycle multi-layer plastic packaging

Indian recycling company Without has scaled a technology designed to recover materials from difficult-to-recycle plastic packaging and textile waste, including multi-layer formats such as crisp packets and shampoo sachets.

The company, formerly known as Without by Ashaya, was recognised as Start-up of the Month by the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3) in May 2023. Since then, Without says it has progressed from laboratory and pilot-scale operations to commercial-scale production.

Its first-of-a-kind demonstration plant, known as The Cradle, began operating in Pune, India, in October 2025. The company now employs 50 people and has filed eight patents relating to its technology, three of which have been granted.

Without has developed a chemo-mechanical recycling process for mixed plastic and textile waste streams that can be difficult to process using conventional recycling routes. According to the company, the water-based process does not use organic solvents and operates at temperatures of around 120°C.

Among the waste streams being targeted are multi-layer plastic packets, which combine different materials to provide the barrier properties required for products such as snacks but can present challenges for conventional recycling systems.

Without says its technology enables this waste to be converted into higher-quality material streams that can subsequently be used in new applications.

One of the company's developments is a bottle produced entirely from recycled crisp packets and shampoo sachets. The project has received support through the Unilever TRANSFORM Grant and was recognised in the L'Oréal Big Bang SAPMENA 2025 programme.

The company has also developed Trash3D, which has been used to produce a 3D-printed vase from recovered crisp packet material, as well as VerdiFLO, a recycled polyester yarn produced using material recovered from contaminated mixed textile waste.

For VerdiFLO, Without recovers purified terephthalic acid (PTA), a building block used in PET and polyester fibre, before repolymerising the recovered material into polyester and producing yarn. The company says the resulting material can achieve purity comparable with virgin material.

Initial testing of its recycled materials has also indicated that they could potentially undergo conventional recycling at least ten times without losing quality or recyclability within polyethylene or polypropylene streams. However, Without says it is still working to validate and reproduce these initial results.

Sustainable Chemistry is part of a broader mission for me: to reshape the economy so that it serves both people and the planet.

Founder Anish Malpani.

Alongside developing its recycling technology, Without works with people previously operating within India's informal waste sector, providing formal employment and improved working conditions. The company says incomes among the former waste pickers it works with have increased by between two and three times.

Without has also become a Certified B Corporation since its original recognition by ISC3, while Malpani was selected as a Yale Climate Fellow for 2026.