About Us

Where others see waste, we deliver value.

UpcycleX is a clean technology company that manufactures high-value chemicals from PET plastic waste using our proprietary electrocatalytic process. Operating under ambient conditions, our technology enables efficient, scalable upcycling to produce two core products: potassium diformate (KDF) and terephthalic acid (TPA).

We manufacture and deliver these products to enterprise customers across the animal feed, chemical manufacturing, and municipal waste management sectors — providing sustainable inputs that align with their operational and environmental goals.

At UpcycleX, we believe plastic waste isn’t a burden — it’s an untapped resource. We’re building the infrastructure to transform that resource into lasting value.

Our Story

Built from science. Driven by impact.

UpcycleX was born from a single conviction: plastic waste doesn’t need to exist.

Our journey began in the research labs of Seoul National University, where Dr. Wren Lee spent years pushing the boundaries of electrocatalysis — exploring how electricity and novel catalysts could break down plastic not just into base materials, but into something better. His doctoral research led to a breakthrough: a scalable, energy-efficient process to upcycle PET plastics into high-value chemicals.

That discovery didn’t stay in the lab.

In 2025, Dr. Lee joined forces with Jonathan Medina, a former engineer at Dow Chemical and Harvard Business School MBA, who had spent years on the front lines of plastics manufacturing — seeing firsthand the scale of the waste problem, and the limitations of the current solutions. Together, they formed UpcycleX to take this innovation from prototype to planet-scale impact.

We combine deep technical expertise, operational experience, and commercial strategy to reimagine what’s possible in plastics and energy. Our mission is to transform waste into value, and in doing so, rewire how the world thinks about materials, pollution, and sustainability.

This isn’t a recycling startup. This is a chemistry revolution.