When it comes to investing in stocks, many traders who don’t mind a little risk are constantly on the lookout for a microcap company on the verge of a breakout. The story, the technology, the innovation, the executive team, the marketing chops – various aspects can make believers out of investors. With many stocks, it never comes together. However, with some, a steadily growing chorus of observers in the investment community eventually helps the company break out to a wider audience as benchmarks are achieved and the business plan is executed.
There are indications that Aduro Clean Technologies Inc. (CSE: ACT) (OTCQX: ACTHF) (FSE: 9D50) may be reaching a sort of inflection point in its development. Aduro’s Hydrochemolytic™ technology (HCT) is a water-based chemical process that is able to turn plastics of all types, with minimal sorting and cleaning required, into high-value feedstock for new plastics and other chemicals. HCT offers the added benefit of greatly reducing emissions compared to virgin plastic production and current recycling technologies.
Aduro’s market capitalization of about $73 million pales compared to the potential market addressed by the company’s breakthrough technology. And the company has largely flown under the radar until very recently. Formed in 2011, ten years of research and development preceded Aduro’s public listing in spring 2021. Even then, the company kept its head down and worked to prove and refine HCT’s capabilities incrementally.
The advanced plastic recycling industry is littered with company stories that started hot, often with the backing of multinational petrochemical companies looking to herald the next big solution to the world’s pressing plastic waste problem, only to fall flat when the limitations of the technology became clear. Aduro was determined to ensure that when the hype came, it would be justified.
Recent events indicate that Aduro and HCT may be breaking out onto a larger stage in which the story and the technology, the hype and the product, the market and the investors are all ready for each other.
Public Awareness
Mariusz Skonieczny is an investor who has been doing YouTube videos about Aduro for around a year now. He attends investor presentations, follows the company very closely, has met management, and has seen the technology in action. Here he discusses the company’s recent rise in valuation, with the stock having gained about 60% since the beginning of November 2022. He highlights the fact that there is a relatively small public float of around 20 million shares, and as the public becomes more aware of the story of Aduro’s commercialization efforts a price rise is not surprising.
This last fall, Aduro was featured on Advancements with Ted Danson, a Bloomberg TV show focused on how innovation is shaping our world and addressing major issues across the globe.
Research and Markets recently published an analysis of the plastic packaging and recycling industry. Aduro was one of the featured companies among a list that includes Dow, ExxonMobil, BASF Chemcycling, and Hyundai Chemical. These are the types of multinational petrochemical companies that are currently testing HCT through Aduro’s pre-commercial customer engagement program.
Aduro is wrapping up its participation in the Shell GameChanger program, a technology accelerator program designed to bring small company innovations to market more quickly and efficiently with the help of the oil giant’s expertise, cooperation, and investment.
Regarding stock performance, Aduro opened the new year of trading with a bang. Between its US and Canadian listings about 575,00 shares were traded on January 3, 2024, compared to the average volume of about 125,000 shares. The share price went up over 10%, hitting an all time high of US$1.12.
See a visual demonstration of HCT’s plastic recycling capabilities.
The Between Chemistry in Action: A Process Flow Illustration of Aduro’s HPU Technology
The video outlines several major advantages it has over legacy and even competing new technologies.
- The HCT technology filters out problematic resins and contaminants that hinder current approaches.
- HCT can process polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene, making up 70% of municipal plastic waste. With only 10% of plastics currently recycled, this adaptability is important on the road to a circular plastic economy.
- HCT produces a very high yield of valuable liquids from the plastic which can be used to create new plastics and a wide variety of other chemical products.
- The technology’s modular design is adaptable to applications of almost any size, from small remote locations to large municipalities and chemical plants.
Aduro Clean Technologies plans to build a pilot plant in the next year after testing various feedstocks and output products for potential customers. The world is becoming more aware of the potential for technology to help solve our mounting plastic waste problems. Interested observers may see the signs of a possible breakthrough for the company, considering its stage of development, the vast market for its solution, and the increasing awareness of Aduro’s stock.
