Coca Cola European Partners (CCEP) is taking a greater initiative to eliminate virgin oil-based plastic from its bottles by investing in scaling technology that creates high-quality rPET for food packaging. The company’s innovation investment engine, CCEP Ventures, is funding recycling start-up, CuRe Technology, which uses ‘polyester rejuvenation’ to target plastics that cannot be recycled by mechanical recycling methods, thereby preventing them from being incinerated or sent to landfill and downcycled.
CuRe Technology’s recycling process generates high-quality rPET with a 65% lower carbon footprint than virgin PET, which can be used for food packaging and re-processed as necessary. Hard-to-recycle plastics can thus receive a new lease of life that will expedite the transition to a circular economy for PET and create a new stream of rPET.
CCEP Ventures’ latest investment aims to use CuRe’s technology to develop rPET for use in CCEP’s bottles in Europe. A new plant that will commence production in 2025 will supply the rPET. Joe Franses, VP sustainability at CCEP, said that the development aligns with the company’s goal to reduce the environmental impact of its packaging and impose a moratorium on the use of virgin plastic in bottles by 2030.
Franses emphasized that “Packaging challenges need big ideas to tackle them, and through CCEP Ventures, we can accelerate innovative solutions to help us meet our ambitions.” CCEP’s second investment in CuRe Technology will support the completion of the engineering for its first commercial plant faster, scaling cutting-edge technology and enabling the revitalization of previously difficult to recycle plastics.
Josse Kunst, chief commercial officer at CuRe Technology, expressed optimism with the prospect of working with CCEP. This renewed commitment will aid in driving progress towards their common goal of creating more sustainable packaging.