Climate Tech Insights

Summary

Climate Tech Insights are part of our Ventures Perspectives series where we speak to entrepreneurs and senior leadership from the flourishing Middle East tech ecosystem as well as industry experts about startup valuations, growth strategy and climate tech innovations.

In this episode, we sit with Theresa Wernery, Partner at Terrax Environmental Limited, a UAE based waste management and processing company focused on transforming unsegregated plastic and organic waste to replace virgin materials for construction - such as plywood and pallets - in efforts to support sustainable construction. 

Theresa discusses the regional climate challenges and what it hopes to achieve. Waste management and deforestation are its primary concerns - as Terrax produces sustainable alternatives to traditional wood made from non-recyclable waste materials. 

Theresa also discusses how the region has played a significant  role in the success of Terrax. She explains that one of ‘biggest opportunities (of being in the UAE) is the fact that it's a relatively small market’. Because even though it is small in nature, the UAE has become an international market, and this allows entrepreneurs easier access to launch a product and reach influential companies and stakeholders that have a wider reach. The region has these ‘really global brands,’ Theresa explains, ‘in quite a small ecosystem, which is cool for a small company like us, (whereas) if we were sitting in Europe or the states, it's so much more difficult, so that has really helped us (grow)’. 

For next steps, Theresa envisions Terrax being a lot accessible across different communities in the future. She explains that, ‘Terrax can help smaller communities with waste management and help make a product that they can then use within the community or sell - a building material, stimulating the economy and sorting out the issue of waste pollution’, and so resulting in a sustainable circular economy. 

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