Loop52

Loop52 has built a breakthrough circular plastics platform that transforms automotive waste back into automotive-grade plastic, helping close one of the industry’s largest resource loops.

Every year, millions of vehicles reach the end of their life, and the plastics inside them have long lacked any scalable route back into the supply chain. As a result, around 6 million tonnes of end-of-life vehicle (ELV) plastic are sent to landfill annually. At the same time, new EU regulations will require 3% of plastics used in new vehicles to come from end-of-life vehicles starting in 2032, rising to 5% by 2036. However, with no reliable systems to identify, sort, and trace automotive plastics, manufacturers have lacked a scalable way to meet those targets. Loop52 is addressing this challenge head-on, creating the infrastructure needed to turn automotive waste into a valuable, traceable resource for the next generation of vehicles.

Founded in 2025 by Lewis Campbell and Dr Jonathan McCree-Grey, Loop52 has developed proprietary automotive-specific technology that recovers, sorts and traces plastic from end-of-life vehicles. It enables ELV plastics to be aggregated, processed and supplied back to OEMs as certified, traceable, automotive-grade material creating a closed-loop system that connects scrapyard to production line.

From its beginnings in Carbon13’s Venture Builder programme to participation in the Accelerate Cambridge accelerator at Cambridge Judge Business School, Loop52 has rapidly established itself as one of the UK’s most promising circular economy startups. In 2025, it secured backing from Carbon13’s £1.2 million SEIS fund as one of just eight climate tech ventures selected, before going on to win a #21toWatch Award in 2026.

Loop52 was recently selected for the DRIVE35 Mobilise programme, part of the UK Government’s £4 billion DRIVE35 initiative. Delivered by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK and Zenzic, the programme awarded Loop52 a £173,500 grant and expert mentoring to accelerate its route to market.

Loop52 is now working with automotive manufacturers and recyclers on pilot projects and partnership agreements, with the goal of integrating circular plastics into new vehicles within the next five years and diverting significant volumes of end-of-life vehicle (ELV) plastic from landfill.