Canada’s Loop Industries (Terrebonne, Quebec; www.loopindustries.com) has announced that European investment group Reed Management plans to spend up to USD 66 mn (EUR 60 mn) to support the company’s recycled PET business.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of March, Loop reported.

Half of the money is to be invested in a 50/50 joint venture between the partners that will work to commercialise the rPET process in Europe, while the other half will support global sales, Loop said.

Early last year, Loop announced plans to build a second French chemical recycling plant for PET bottles in partnership with local waste firm Suez (Paris; www.suez.com) and South Korean chemical maker SK picglobal (Seoul; www.skpicglobal.com).

The Canadian company said its technology combines its own proprietary depolymerisation techniques with PET polymerisation expertise from Invista (Wichita, Kansas, USA; www.invista.com) and Chemtex Global (Shanghai, China; www.chemtex.com) “to create infinitely recyclable, high-purity, food grade PET plastic and polyester fibre.”

In 2018, Loop unveiled multi-year deals to supply Coca-Cola and PepsiCo with recycled material from its US plant, operated in partnership with Thai PET giant Indorama Ventures (IVL, Bangkok; www.indoramaventures.com)