GR3N Raises $17M for Microwave PET Recycling Plant

Jan de Vries · 2026-06-05

### A Big Step for Plastic Recycling GR3N, a CleanTech company based in Lugano, Switzerland, just closed a $17 million Series B funding round. That's about €15.5 million converted to USD. The money will go toward building MODUS, the world's first industrial plant that uses microwave-assisted depolymerization technology to recycle PET plastics and polyester fibers. This isn't your average recycling plant. It's a game-changer for how we deal with plastic waste. ### Who's Backing This? The round was led by 360 Capital, a VC firm from France and Italy that focuses on DeepTech and ClimateTech. VP Textile also joined as a new investor. Growth Capital advised GR3N on the deal. The company also brought in Martin Stephan as their new CEO. Stephan said, "I'm excited to join this talented team and bring Microwave Assisted Depolymerization to market as the best available technology for PET chemical recycling." He added that the funding will speed up construction of their first-of-a-kind plant. ### How GR3N's Technology Works GR3N was founded back in 2013. They developed a technology called MADE, which stands for Microwave Assisted DEpolymerization. It's a chemical recycling process that breaks down PET plastics and polyester into their basic building blocks. Here's why that matters: - PET is one of the most common plastics, with a global market of 110 million tons - Right now, 98% of recycling is mechanical, which only works for clear and light-blue bottles - That's just 15% of all PET waste. The other 85%—textiles, colored plastics, films—ends up in landfills or gets burned GR3N's MADE technology can handle all of it. No sorting needed. ### Why Chemical Recycling Is the Future Regulations are driving demand for recycled PET. The EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation says producers need to use at least 30% recycled content by 2030 and 65% by 2040. Big beverage brands have their own targets too. Mechanical recycling can't keep up. It can't process mixed or contaminated waste. But chemical recycling can. GR3N says their MADE process cuts CO2 emissions by up to 80% compared to making virgin PET. And unlike other chemical methods like glycolysis or methanolysis, MADE has no limits on what it can process. It produces food-grade monomers that can be recycled forever without losing quality. GR3N holds three patent families for the process and equipment. ### The MODUS Plant in Spain The new funding will build MODUS, a plant with a capacity of 44,000 tons per year. It's located in Spain and developed with Intecsa Industrial, part of the Cobra IS group, which handles engineering and construction. GR3N also secured a $39 million grant from the EU Innovation Fund. Financial closing is expected by Q4 2027, with commercial operations starting in Q2 2030. ### What This Means for Textile Waste Alessandro Zaccaria, a partner at 360 Capital, put it bluntly: "Textile waste is one of the most urgent problems in sustainability. The fashion industry generates over 99 million tons of waste each year. Polyester dominates fiber production, but less than 1% of clothing is ever recycled back into clothing." He said the loop has never been closed because the technology didn't exist. Until now. GR3N's tech can handle blended fabrics, colored textiles, and contaminated streams—all the messy stuff that's been impossible to recycle before. ### The Bottom Line GR3N is tackling one of the hardest problems in recycling: dealing with the 85% of PET waste that current methods ignore. Their microwave-assisted depolymerization could finally make chemical recycling work at scale. With $17 million in funding and a major EU grant, they're building the first real proof that this technology can operate in the real world. It's a big deal for anyone who cares about reducing plastic pollution and creating a circular economy.