Saipem and Garbo’s PET Chemical Recycling Project selected to receive approximately 15.5 million euro in EU Innovation Fund Financing

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Based on ChemPET, a technology owned by Saipem and Garbo, the project involves the construction of the first industrial-scale plant in Italy for chemical recycling of PET

ReNova ChemPET, the chemical recycling project for PET jointly developed by Saipem – as lead partner – and Garbo, based on their proprietary ChemPET technology, has been selected by the European Commission among the projects identified to receive funding under the EU Innovation Fund 2024 call for Net-Zero technologies mid-scale projects. The total funding allocated to the project amounts to approximately €15.5 million and will be disbursed following the signing of the Grant Agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), expected by March 2026.

The EU Innovation Fund is one of the European Union’s main instruments supporting low-carbon technologies. For this round, the Commission selected 61 projects across 18 countries, including four from Italy.
ReNova ChemPET entails the construction, in Cerano (Novara, Italy), of the first industrial-scale plant in Italy for the chemical recycling of PET, a material widely used in packaging, food containers and textile. The plant, scheduled to start operations in early 2029, will have an estimated annual capacity equivalent to recycling over 250 million PET bottles, which will be converted into new, high-quality raw material for the textile industry.

The project is based on the innovative ChemPET technology, owned by Saipem and Garbo, which enables the depolymerization of PET into new high-quality material, even from coloured or complex plastics as well as polyester textiles, and represents a significant evolution compared to traditional mechanical recycling, thanks to simpler, safer, and more sustainable processes.

The Cerano plant is part of the collaboration pathway launched in 2023 between Saipem and Garbo, following the agreement signed for the industrialization, development, and global commercialization of ChemPET technology.

The project ReNova ChemPET also fits within Saipem’s 2025–2030 ESG Strategy and Garbo’s industrial vision, both aimed at promoting sustainable chemistry and materials recovery solutions.
The recognition granted by the EU Innovation Fund confirms the strength of the collaboration between Saipem and Garbo and the robustness of the ChemPET technology, which is set to contribute to reducing emissions and strengthening the green chemistry value chain in Italy and across Europe.