GR3N has closed a \u20ac15.5 million Series B led by 360 Capital to advance its microwave-based chemical PET recycling technology and fund construction of MODUS, the world\u2019s first industrial plant using this process.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s MADE technology can process 100% of PET waste \u2014 including coloured bottles, films, and textiles that mechanical recycling cannot touch \u2014 reducing CO\u2082 emissions by up to 80% versus virgin PET.<\/p>\n
EU regulations require producers to meet 30% recycled PET content by 2030 and 65% by 2040, creating a structural demand gap that mechanical recycling alone cannot fill. Chemical recycling is the only technology capable of meeting it at scale.<\/p>\n
Recycling has a dirty secret. Of the 100 million tonnes of PET produced globally every year, mechanical recycling \u2014 the dominant technology \u2014 can only process transparent and light-blue bottles. That is 15% of the total. The remaining 85% \u2014 coloured packaging, films, blended textiles, contaminated waste \u2014 goes straight to landfill or incineration. For 13 years, Swiss cleantech company GR3N has been building the technology to fix that.<\/p>\n
Lugano-based GR3N<\/a>, founded in 2013, has closed a \u20ac15.5 million Series B led by 360 Capital, the Paris and Milan-based deep-tech and climate-tech VC. VP Textile joins as a new strategic investor. The round brings GR3N\u2019s total funding to approximately \u20ac24 million across all rounds. Growth Capital acted as financial advisor.<\/p>\n Leadership transition<\/p>\n The funding announcement coincides with a significant leadership change: Maurizio Crippa, the Italian inventor who founded GR3N and served as CEO since 2013, has handed over the role to Martin Stephan<\/a>, who brings over two decades of international executive experience in technology-driven businesses. Crippa invented the MADE technology and has guided the company from laboratory concept to industrial development \u2014 Stephan now takes it into the commercialisation phase.<\/p>\n What MADE does<\/p>\n GR3N\u2019s core technology is MADE \u2014 Microwave Assisted DEpolymerization. Rather than physically shredding or melting plastic (mechanical recycling) or using enzymes or solvents (competing chemical approaches), MADE uses microwave energy to break PET and polyester down into their core monomers \u2014 terephthalic acid (TPA) and monoethylene glycol (MEG) \u2014 at the molecular level. The resulting monomers are food-grade, virgin-quality, and can be re-polymerised into new PET endlessly without degradation. Unlike glycolysis, methanolysis, or dissolution approaches, MADE has no feedstock limitations: it handles coloured bottles, textile fibres, films, and contaminated mixed streams that defeat every other method.<\/p>\n The process reduces CO\u2082 emissions by up to 80% compared to producing virgin PET from fossil feedstocks. GR3N holds three patent families \u2014 two covering the depolymerisation process and one on its proprietary equipment (PEQ). The team comprises six PhDs with backgrounds spanning material science, chemistry, aerospace engineering, and economics. Industrial shareholders include Intecsa Industrial, Standex International, and Chevron.<\/p>\n MODUS \u2014 the world\u2019s first industrial plant<\/p>\n The proceeds from this round go directly toward MODUS \u2014 a first-of-a-kind industrial plant with a capacity of 40,000 tonnes per year, to be built in Spain in partnership with Intecsa Industrial, the engineering arm of the Cobra IS industrial group, which leads the EPC execution. The project has secured a signed \u20ac35 million grant agreement under the EU Innovation Fund\u2019s Large Scale Industrial Projects category \u2014 more than double the equity raised in this round, reflecting the EU\u2019s conviction that chemical recycling infrastructure needs public subsidy to reach viability. Financial closure is expected in Q4 2027, with commercial operations planned for Q2 2030.<\/p>\n It is worth noting that MODUS was originally targeted for operation in 2027 when announced in 2023. The current timeline of Q2 2030 represents a three-year delay \u2014 a common pattern in first-of-a-kind deep-tech industrial projects where engineering complexity, regulatory approvals, and supply chain realities routinely extend timelines beyond initial projections, according to Dealroom.<\/p>\n In their own words<\/p>\n \u201cI am very excited to join this talented team with the goal to bring the Microwave Assisted Depolymerisation technology to the market and make it the Best Available Technology for PET chemical recycling.\u201d \u2014 Martin Stephan, CEO, GR3N.<\/p>\n \u201cTextile waste is one of the most urgent, and most unsolved, problems in the sustainability transition. The fashion industry generates over 90 million tons of waste annually, polyester dominates global fiber production, and yet less than 1% of clothing is ever recycled back into clothing. The loop has never been closed because the technology to close it didn\u2019t exist. Until now.\u201d \u2014 Alessandro Zaccaria<\/a>, Partner, 360 Capital.<\/p>\n The competitive landscape<\/p>\n GR3N competes in a crowded but technically fragmented chemical recycling field. Carbios, the French enzymatic depolymerisation company listed on Euronext Growth, is building a 50,000-tonne commercial plant in partnership with Indorama Ventures, targeting operations in the mid-2020s \u2014 it uses biological enzymes rather than microwaves and has raised over \u20ac200 million. DePoly, a fellow Swiss PET chemical recycler that has raised $41 million total, opened a 500-tonne demonstration plant in Monthey, Switzerland in 2025 using a cold-temperature acid hydrolysis process \u2014 different chemistry, similar feedstock flexibility. Loop Industries (Canada, $139 million raised) uses low-temperature, low-pressure depolymerisation targeting the North American market. What differentiates GR3N is the microwave energy mechanism \u2014 which the company says enables faster reaction times, higher energy efficiency, and full feedstock flexibility without the enzyme sourcing constraints of Carbios or the solvent handling requirements of dissolution approaches.<\/p>\n Market context<\/p>\n