TL;DRSwiss cleantech GR3N raised €15.5M to build a microwave-assisted PET recycling plant in Spain. It handles the 85% of PET waste that current methods can’t.
Swiss cleantech startup GR3N has raised €15.5 million in a Series B round to build the world’s first commercial-scale microwave-assisted PET recycling plant. The round was led by 360 Capital, with new investor VP Textile also participating. The proceeds will fund MODUS, a 40,000-ton-per-year facility in Spain.
PET is one of the most widely used plastics on the planet. But 98% of recycling relies on mechanical technologies that can only process transparent and light-blue bottles, roughly 15% of total PET waste. The remaining 85%, including textile fibres, films, and coloured resins, ends up in landfill or gets incinerated. It is one of the biggest gaps in the EU’s push to hit its emissions targets.
GR3N’s technology, called MADE (Microwave Assisted DEpolymerisation), can process all of it. Unlike mechanical recycling or alternatives like glycolysis and methanolysis, MADE has no feedstock limitations. It produces food-grade monomers that can be recycled repeatedly without losing performance, while cutting CO2 emissions by up to 80% compared to virgin PET production.
