The Polyfloss Factory

What The Polyfloss Factory does

The Polyfloss Factory is a French engineering company that designs, manufactures, and deploys portable plastic recycling machines based on a proprietary hot centrifugation process inspired by candy floss making. The core machine converts shredded PP and PET plastic waste into versatile fibers suitable for thermal and acoustic insulation, textiles, packaging, and molded mono-material composites. The current Ely 4.0 platform processes approximately 10 kg of shredded plastic per hour, weighs around 120 kg, runs on domestic electrical systems, and is operated by a single technician, making it field-deployable in contexts without industrial recycling infrastructure.

The company's primary customers are humanitarian organizations, UN missions, and development NGOs that need locally producible insulation and livelihood materials in crisis or underserved regions. Named engagements include a UN peacekeeping mission plastic recycling centre in Abyei (UNISFA, 2023-2026) with Mad Plastic, the PIPER school insulation and cooperative livelihood project in Nepal with World Vision International, Syria-Türkiye earthquake response, a housing association winterization project in La Courneuve, and the Ndao Hanavao eco-humanitarian laboratory in Madagascar. The Waste for Warmth consortium, co-founded in 2020 with Engineers Without Borders Norway and Field Ready and funded by Innovation Norway, anchors the company's position in humanitarian innovation.

The Polyfloss Factory generates revenue through hardware sales (machines, shredders, washing stations, accessories, spare parts, plastic identification kits), professional services (project planning, on-site installation, training, long-term maintenance), and small-volume direct sales of polyfloss sample boxes (€15 per 1 kg). The go-to-market is a direct field-sales model in which the team travels to customer sites for installation, initial testing, user training, and maintenance protocol setup. The company operates from La Courneuve, France as a SAS with approximately 8 employees, including three co-founders from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London IDE program.

Name

The Polyfloss Factory

Legal name

The Polyfloss Factory SAS

Website

https://thepolyflossfactory.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Polyfloss Factory designs and supplies portable, field-friendly plastic recycling machines using proprietary hot centrifugation technology, serving humanitarian organizations, UN missions, and development NGOs that need locally producible insulation and fiber materials.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plastic Recycling Equipment

NAICS

Resin, Synthetic Rubber, and Artificial and Synthetic Fibers and Filaments Manufacturing (3252)

SIC

Plastic Materials, Synth Resins & Nonvulcan Elastomers (2821)

akta.pro primary industry

Plastic Recycling Equipment & Technology Providers (Sorting, Washing, Extrusion) (EUAIAKAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Mechanical Recycling (Wash, Grind, Pelletize) (EUAIAKAB), Mechanical Plastics Recycling (Wash/Grind/Flake/Pellet) (IMANAMAC), Packaging Waste Sorting & Recycling Technologies (Mechanical/Chemical Recycling, Sorting Systems) (IMALAMAL)

Keywords

• Plastic recycling machines
• Waste-to-fiber processing
• Small-scale recycling equipment
• Humanitarian plastic recycling
• Recycled plastic fibers

Headquarters

HQ city

La Courneuve

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Machine and Equipment Sales: Sale of polyfloss machines, shredders, washing stations, accessories, spare parts, and plastic identification kits for waste plastic recycling facilities.
2. Professional Services: Training, study, and maintenance programs to support customers in setting up recycling ecosystems. Includes on-site installation, first tests, user training, and ongoing support.
3. Product Sales: Sale of floss sample boxes (1kg quantity) for material testing. Available in PP or PET. Lead time of 2 weeks.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Polyfloss Factory designs, manufactures, and supplies small-scale, field-friendly plastic recycling machines that use hot centrifugation — a principle inspired by candy floss making — to transform shredded PP and PET plastic waste into versatile fibers. The company sells the machines (latest Ely 4.0 version), the resulting polyfloss fibers, and a suite of supporting services including project planning, on-site installation, user training, and long-term maintenance for humanitarian, NGO, and community recycling deployments.

Product overview

The Polyfloss Factory offers a suite of plastic recycling solutions centered on their proprietary hot centrifugation machine that transforms shredded plastic waste (PP and PET) into versatile polyfloss fibers. The product portfolio includes the core Polyfloss Machine (latest Ely 4.0 version processing 10kg/h), the resulting Polyfloss Fibers for insulation/textiles/molding applications, Floss Sample Boxes for material testing, and associated machine timeline versions. Services encompass end-to-end support including setup planning, equipment supply (machines, shredders, washing stations, spare parts), on-site installation/training, and long-term maintenance. Technical resources including machine manuals, fabrication guides, and plastic identification kits support operational needs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Polyfloss Machine The core plastic recycling machine that transforms shredded plastic waste (PP and PET) into fibers through hot centrifugation. Processes 10kg/h, weighs 120kg, operates on domestic electrical systems, requires one technician, and includes safeguards against moving parts and hot plastic. Designed for field use in contexts where industrial recycling infrastructure is unavailable.
• Polyfloss Fibers Recycled plastic fibers produced by the Polyfloss machine, with heat and sound insulation properties. Can be used as raw material, shaped into textiles (threaded, woven, knitted, felted), or molded into mono-material composites for insulation, packaging, textiles, and molded plastic products. All fibers are recyclable again.
• Floss Sample Box Sample box of polyfloss fibers (PP or PET) available in 1kg quantities for material testing before larger purchases. Color and quality vary based on available plastic waste. Priced at €15.00 with a 2-week lead time.
• Setup & Project Planning Services Comprehensive planning support including plastic waste source studies, workshop guidelines, safety protocols, business model creation, and plastic identification kits to establish recycling facilities.
• Machine Supply & Equipment Provision of Polyfloss machines, shredders, washing stations, accessories, spare parts, and all necessary equipment for waste plastic recycling facilities.
• Installation & Training Services On-site machine installation, first-test performance, user training, and maintenance protocol setup to ensure recycling facilities are fully functional.
• Long-term Support & Maintenance Ongoing technical support, issue management, new add-ons, and spare parts shipping to ensure continued operation years after initial installation.
• Technical Resources Downloadable operational resources including the Waste for Warmth machine manual, Ndao Hanavao fabrication guide, plastic identification kit and manual, and security measures poster to support customer operations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Machine processes 10kg/h of shredded PP and PET plastics
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Mad PlasticcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Partnered with Mad Plastic to design and install the first plastic recycling centre for a UN peacekeeping mission. Mad Plastic provided additional equipment including shredders, washing stations, injection machines, and press equipment for the full waste-to-resource cycle.
• UNISFA (United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023UN peacekeeping mission that commissioned the plastic recycling centre project in Abyei. Supported by UNGSC ETSU/REACT.
• World Vision International Nepal - Innovation LabcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023PIPER (Plastic Insulating Polyfloss for Economic Roofing) project partner installing polyfloss machine in Bhajani, Kailali for school insulation and livelihood programs.
• Digo Bikash SamajcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Local partner in Nepal working with World Vision and The Polyfloss Factory on the PIPER project, managing community-run cooperatives.
• Waste for Warmth ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Humanitarian innovation consortium including Engineers Without Borders Norway, Field Ready, and The Polyfloss Factory. Funded by Innovation Norway's Humanitarian Innovation Programme. Focuses on emergency shelter insulation and plastic recycling solutions.
• Engineers Without Borders NorwaycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Core consortium partner in Waste for Warmth, supporting humanitarian plastic recycling projects including Syria response, Nepal PIPER, and UNISFA deployments.
• Field ReadycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHumanitarian organization and consortium partner in Waste for Warmth focused on innovation for humanitarian response.
• Royal Academy of EngineeringsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as supporter, likely providing engineering expertise and credibility.
• Imperial College LondonsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner where co-founders studied. Audrey Gaulard teaches at Imperial College London.
• Norwegian Red CrosssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as trusted partner, supporting humanitarian projects.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Worn Again Technologies: UK-based company developing chemical recycling to separate and recover polyester and cotton from mixed textile waste. Comparable in the spirit of converting difficult waste streams into reusable fibers, but focused on textiles rather than plastics.

Broad incumbents

• Carbios: Industrial-scale enzymatic recycling company targeting PET (the same polymer Polyfloss processes). Comparable end-product ambition (recycled plastic as feedstock) but operates centralized biorefinery technology rather than small-scale field machines.
• TOMRA: Global leader in sensor-based sorting and recycling equipment. Comparable in selling equipment into the recycling value chain (sorting, separation), but serving high-throughput industrial MRFs and sorting facilities rather than decentralized field operations.
• Agilyx: Chemical recycling platform converting polystyrene and other waste plastics into feedstock. Comparable in turning plastic waste into reusable material inputs, but at industrial scale and using different conversion chemistry.
• Plastic Bank: Social enterprise that collects ocean-bound plastic waste and converts it into recycled feedstock for brands. Overlaps with Polyfloss on plastic-waste-as-resource economics and ESG-driven customer demand, but operates at much larger scale through collection networks rather than localized fiberization machines.
• Recycling Technologies: UK-based advanced recycler using thermal conversion to turn mixed plastic waste into oil and wax feedstock. Comparable in targeting hard-to-recycle plastics, but operates at industrial scale and uses chemical rather than mechanical recycling.
• Sesotec: Manufacturer of metal detectors, sorting, and material-recovery equipment for the recycling industry. Comparable as a recycling-equipment vendor, though focused on detection/sorting for industrial lines rather than small-scale fiberization.

Direct peers

• Precious Plastic: Open-source community and machine shop for small-scale, decentralized plastic recycling. Highly comparable: shares the mission of democratizing plastic recycling through affordable, locally operated machines and produces processed plastic outputs usable for construction and products.
• Field Ready: Humanitarian organization that designs and manufactures goods locally in disaster response contexts. Listed as a Polyfloss partner and Waste for Warmth consortium member, Field Ready shares the same decentralized-manufacturing-for-humanitarian-impact thesis and target customer base.
• Mad Plastic: Provider of plastic recycling equipment (shredders, washing stations, injection machines, presses) and Polyfloss Factory's consortium partner on the UNISFA recycling centre. Directly comparable as a complementary small-scale plastic-to-product equipment provider.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC4o1BOolacxwN89HYxvLIBg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-polyfloss-factory
• Instagraminstagram.com/thepolyflossfactory/?hl=fr
• TikToktiktok.com/@polyflossfactory

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Polyfloss Factory