Coca-Cola Enterprises, the US-based drinks multinational, has helped UK-based plastic recycling company Eco Plastics raise £24m ($39m) in financing.
Coca-Cola invested £5m, was joined by Ludgate Environmental Fund, which invested the same amount. The remainder was raised through debt, with UK-based bank Close Brothers acting as a financier.
The funds would help Eco Plastics double its British production of material for soft drinks, it said. The Coc-Cola investment was first revealed in March, as part of a joint venture, and will see the company supply Coca-Cola with soft drinks material for 10 years. UK accountancy firm KPMG advised Eco Plastics.
The complany’s plant will increase from 100,000 tonnes to 140,000 tonnes of plastic bottles per year, which is just below half the total amount of bottles collected in the UK last year.
SAM Private Equity, backed by Dutch bank Robeco, and Disruptive Capital Finance, set up by private equity veteran Edmund Truell, are previous investors in Eco Plastics.
Simon Baldry, Coca-Cola Britain’s managing director, said in March: "Coca Cola Enterprises is committed to transforming recycling in Great Britain. Our investment in this project with Eco Plastics will start to address the recycling challenges in this country. British PET [Polyethylene terephthalate] bottles will be recycled for re-use in packaging that will be sold from the shelves of British retailers."