The Coca-Cola Company has today announced that it will extend a loan to Ioniqa Technologies to transform hard-to-recycle waste into high-grade recycled PET for use in its beverage bottles.
Coke’s deal with the Netherlands company supports the company’s plans to create packaging made of at least 50 per cent recycled material by 2030.
Coloured PET bottles and other waste that is often excluded from some recycling streams can be recycled into food-grade quality packaging with new technology through this deal.
“Our investment in new and pioneering recycling technologies is an opportunity for significant movement toward closing the loop and creating a circular economy for PET,” said Robert Long, chief innovation officer for The Coca-Cola Company. “We plan to continue investment in developing the right partnerships and initiatives – like with Ioniqa – to support our vision of a World Without Waste.
“Partnering with The Coca-Cola Company is a further validation of our journey to launch this unique process for transforming hard-to-recycle PET waste into high-quality, food-grade material,” said Tonnis Hooghoudt, CEO of Ioniqa. “The Ioniqa process allows for significant recovery and reuse of plastic materials that might otherwise not be recycled, while delivering quality food grade PET. The launch of our plant next year will be a step change in the transformation of hard-to-recycle PET plastic into a more widely usable recycled material, supporting the vision of Coca-Cola.”
A 10 kMT industrial plant is currently under construction in The Netherlands and will be completed in 2019.