Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) has invested in recycling start-up Cure Technology, in an attempt to eliminate virgin oil-based PET from its packaging within the next decade. The funding, which was made through the firm’s investment fund CCEP Ventures, will be used to support the commercialization of the start-up’s ‘polyester rejuvenation’ technology, which aims to provide a new method of recycling plastic polyester waste.
According to Cure, its partial depolymerization process allows the removal of many impurities and the conversion of food grade PET to high-quality rPET, that can be used again for food and drink packaging. Following its commercialization, CCEP will receive the majority of the output from a Cure -licensed, new-build plant. It will reportedly enable one continuous process on the same site, which can be less energy-intensive than full depolymerization and offers lower associated C02 emissions.
CCEP, in partnership with Coca Cola Western Europe, intends to eliminate virgin oil-based PET from its PET bottles, which will see the removal of over 200,000 tonnes of virgin oil-based PET from its packaging portfolio a year. Josse Kunst, chief commercial officer at Cure Technology, said: “Polyester is one of the world’s most reversible plastics and should not go to waste. In the pilot plant phase of the Cure process, we were supported with a subsidy from the European Union and the three northern provinces of the Netherlands. “Now our ambition to create an energy-efficient solution for product to product polyester transformation will be accelerated because of this funding. The support of CCEP Ventures will enable us to start with opaque and difficult to recycle food grade PET and take the first step towards our ultimate vision of recycling all polyester, again and again.”