The Green Bottom Line: On-Site Recycling Cuts Industrial Costs & Emissions

OTTAWA, ON – August 06, 2026 – In a move that signals a significant shift in how heavy industry manages chemical waste, Ottawa-based CleanPlanet Chemical has secured a US$25 million financing facility to accelerate the deployment of its on-site solvent recycling systems. The deal, led by sustainability-focused credit firm PaceZero Capital Partners and supported by Export Development Canada (EDC), isn't just another funding announcement; it’s a powerful endorsement of a model that marries environmental responsibility with compelling economic returns.

For decades, manufacturers in sectors from flexible packaging to paints and coatings have faced a costly dilemma: what to do with spent industrial solvents. The traditional path involves paying to haul away hazardous waste for off-site disposal—often through carbon-intensive incineration—and then purchasing expensive virgin solvents to replenish supplies. CleanPlanet is upending this linear, wasteful, and increasingly expensive cycle with a deceptively simple proposition: what if factories could purify and reuse their own solvents, right on the factory floor?

This new financing, structured as a Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) facility, will fuel the expansion of CleanPlanet's 'AlwaysClean' platform across North America, providing a tangible solution for companies grappling with volatile supply chains, rising disposal costs, and mounting pressure to reduce their carbon footprint.

The High Cost of Industrial Waste

The challenge CleanPlanet addresses is both economically and environmentally urgent. Industrial solvents, essential for cleaning, dissolving, and synthesizing materials, are predominantly petrochemical-based. Their prices are tethered to the volatile oil market, and their disposal is a logistical and regulatory minefield. Transporting hazardous materials carries inherent risks and costs, while disposal methods like fuel blending or incineration release significant greenhouse gases.

Regulatory bodies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are tightening restrictions on certain chemical substances, making compliance more complex and costly. Simultaneously, corporations are facing intense pressure from investors, consumers, and regulators to report on and reduce their environmental impact, particularly their Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 3 (indirect supply chain) emissions. The traditional 'dispose and replace' model for solvents is a major contributor to both.

This is the landscape where on-site recycling transforms from a 'nice-to-have' sustainability initiative into a core business strategy. By closing the loop directly at the point of use, companies can slash their reliance on virgin solvent procurement and nearly eliminate hazardous waste transportation and disposal. In 2025 alone, CleanPlanet's existing systems recycled over 20 million pounds of solvent waste, preventing more than 30,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions—a figure that demonstrates the scalable impact of their technology.

A Paradigm Shift: From Capital Expense to Operating Expense

Perhaps the most critical innovation driving CleanPlanet's expansion is not its chemistry but its business model. The company's Service365 offering is a classic Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) play, a model that has transformed software and is now making deep inroads into industrial hardware.

Instead of requiring customers to make a large capital investment to purchase a recycling system, CleanPlanet installs and maintains the equipment at no upfront cost. The customer simply pays a monthly volumetric fee based on the amount of solvent recycled. This elegantly converts a prohibitive capital expenditure (CapEx) into a predictable operating expense (OpEx). The impact on a company’s balance sheet is immediate and profound, delivering reported cost savings of up to 60% compared to their old process.

"Against a backdrop of volatile solvent prices and rising disposal costs, we see immense growth potential for on-site solvent recycling," said Jordan Peckham, Founder and CEO of PaceZero. "Alex and the team at CleanPlanet are building best-in-class technology and share our commitment to delivering measurable positive impact."

This all-inclusive service covers not just the hardware but also software, 24/7 remote monitoring, maintenance, and operator training. By retaining ownership, CleanPlanet is incentivized to ensure maximum uptime and efficiency, creating a true partnership with its clients. For the customer, it de-risks the adoption of new technology and provides a clear, measurable return on investment from day one.

Inside the Box: Technology That Delivers Purity and Simplicity

At the heart of the HaaS model is CleanPlanet's proprietary technology: a fully automated, closed-loop distillation system. Certified for use in hazardous environments (Class I, Division 1), each unit is a self-contained recycling plant capable of handling hundreds of different solvent chemistries using a single, software-calibrated hardware design.

The process restores spent, contaminated solvents to a state of near-virgin purity, a claim backed by a system of over 50 sensors and advanced algorithms that ensure precise quality control. The key to its adoption in busy manufacturing facilities is its simplicity. The systems require less than 10 minutes of daily operator intervention, with automated self-cleaning and remote monitoring handling the rest.

This level of automation and reliability is crucial. It means that a company's existing workforce can manage the system without needing specialized chemical engineering expertise. The patented technology not only ensures high yield and purity but also minimizes fugitive emissions, preventing the loss of valuable chemicals into the atmosphere.

"The need for solvent recycling is expanding as industries such as semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and electric batteries increase North American capacity," noted Alex Richert, CEO of CleanPlanet. "The partnership with PaceZero and EDC will allow CleanPlanet to meet this market demand and provide a win/win proposition for our customers and the communities in which they operate."

Strategic Capital: Fueling Canada's Cleantech Ambition

The US$25 million facility is more than just financial fuel; it represents a strategic alignment of capital with a mission. PaceZero Capital Partners specializes in providing private credit to sustainability-focused companies, bridging the gap between traditional venture capital and commercial bank debt. Their investment validates CleanPlanet's business model and its potential for substantial environmental and financial returns.

Participation from Export Development Canada, a Crown corporation, underscores the national strategic importance of the cleantech sector. EDC has become a cornerstone financier for Canadian green technology, facilitating nearly $10 billion in business for the sector in 2024 alone. Their support for CleanPlanet is a clear signal of confidence in a Canadian innovator's ability to compete and lead on a global scale.

"Canadian cleantech companies are developing innovative solutions to some of industry's most complex challenges, and CleanPlanet is a strong example of that leadership," commented Lissa Bjerkelund, Vice-President, Investments and Mid-Market Lending at EDC. "By helping manufacturers recover and reuse solvents on-site, CleanPlanet enables its customers to reduce costs, improve operational efficiency and lower waste."

This debt financing strategically follows a US$30 million equity investment from Nuveen's Private Equity Impact team in late 2024, which bolstered the company's internal growth and R&D. The new facility from PaceZero and EDC is specifically designed to finance the hardware itself, enabling CleanPlanet to rapidly scale its physical footprint and deploy units to meet surging demand without diluting equity. This sophisticated, multi-layered funding strategy is a blueprint for how capital-intensive cleantech firms can achieve exponential growth. As industries across North America re-shore and expand, the demand for efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions like those from CleanPlanet is set to accelerate.