Swiss startup GR3N raises €15.5M to build the world’s first microwave-powered PET recycling plant

TL;DR

Swiss 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.

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The MODUS plant has secured a €35 million grant agreement under the EU Innovation Fund’s large-scale industrial projects category. Intecsa Industrial, part of the Cobra IS group, is leading the engineering and construction. Financial closure is expected in Q4 2027, with commercial operations planned for Q2 2030.

GR3N was founded in 2013 by Italian inventor Maurizio Crippa, who recently handed the CEO role to Martin Stephan. Stephan brings two decades of experience in technology-driven businesses. Industrial shareholders now include Intecsa Industrial, Standex International, and Chevron.

The round is modest by venture standards, but the EU grant and industrial backing signal that the technology is past the lab stage. If MODUS delivers on its 40,000-ton annual capacity, it would demonstrate that chemical recycling can work at scale for the types of PET waste the industry has struggled to handle. Europe has twice as many climate tech startups as the US, but scaling deep tech from lab to factory remains the hard part.

Published June 6, 2026 - 1:16 pm UTC

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