Netherlands-based chemical company Ioniqa Technologies (Eindhoven; www.ioniqa.com) and venture capital firm Chemelot Ventures (Maastricht / The Netherlands; www.chemelotventures.com) have finalised the funding for an upscaling of Ioniqa’s “circular” PET recycling process and the building of a small-scale plant. With additional commitment from existing shareholders to co-invest, the funding has raised a combined investment of EUR 2.5m.

The clean technology process allows all grades of PET to be converted into pure raw materials and removes colour from PET materials, which the company describes as “the missing piece of the puzzle in infinite PET recycling."

Tonnis Hooghoudt, CEO of Ioniqa Technologies, said: “With our game-changing chemical recycling process we are able to contribute to the circular economy by converting coloured post-consumer PET into pure and clear raw materials for ‘virgin’ PET. We note strong interest from many stakeholders in the circular economy, including leading multinationals. I am confident that we can convert this strong interest into an attractive and sustainable operational business.”

Ioniqa Technologies specialises in the development of magnetic smart materials and magnetic separation processes. It is a spin-off from the Eindhoven University of Technology (www.tue.nl) and the Dutch Polymer Institute (Eindhoven; www.polymers.nl).

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Ioniqa demonstration video "Circular PET Recycling" on YouTube