Bottling firm Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) has announced an investment in a recycling start-up CuRe Technology.

The funding was provided through CCEP’s innovation investment fund called CCEP Ventures.

CuRe Technology is led by a consortium between Morssinkhof Group and Cumapol/DuFor Group. DSM-Niaga and NHL Stenden University of Applied Science are strategic partners.

Using partial depolymerisation recycling process, the start-up will initially convert opaque and difficult to recycle (ODR) food grade PET to high quality recycled PET (rPET).

This can be reused for packaging food and drink products.

Coca-Cola European Partners Sustainability vice-president Joe Franses said: “CuRe is an exciting technology start-up with transformational potential developed by an experienced consortium, making it an ideal investment for CCEP Ventures.

“Our investment in CuRe underlines our commitment to supporting innovations that have the potential to drive growth in our business and our sustainable packaging goals.

“It also offers us the potential to access vital rPET volume that will help to accelerate delivery of our 100% rPET ambition for our PET bottles.”

The funding will allow CuRe to commercialise its ‘polyester rejuvenation’ technology from pilot plant.

Once the technology is commercialised, CCEP will source the output from a CuRe-licensed new-build facility.

CuRe Technology chief commercial officer Josse Kunst 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.”