CARBIOS: New Success With The Development Of A Depolymerization Process 100% Of Plastic Bottles

• A technology applicable to the world market of the bottles, packaging and PET films
• A process addressing a market of over $ 31B per year

CARBIOS, innovator of green chemistry specialist enzymatic bioprocesses applied to polymers in plastics and textiles, recently announced a major advance in the development of its process enzymatic biorecyclage polyesters making it applicable to the crystalline PET and thus to all the plastic waste containing PET, namely bottles (transparent or opaque multi-layer), packaging and films. CARBIOS had previously announced an initial success in this area with the depolymerization of 100% of commercial products based on amorphous PET in their original monomers, TPA (terephthalic acid) and MEG (mono ethylene glycol).

This new stage is a world first, confirming the application potential of CARBIOS technology and offers the opportunity of a biorecyclage infinitely plastic materials made entirely or partly of amorphous PET and / or crystalline. This now allows CARBIOS access to a global market estimated at more than $ 31B [1] per year.

The depolymerization process of PET developed and patented by CARBIOS allows a return to the original monomers without altering their qualities. After separation and purification, these monomers can be used in the synthesis of PET from virgin 100% of enzyme CARBIOS biorecyclage.

This new success in the THANAPLAST ™ project highlights the effectiveness of collaboration between teams and those of CARBIOS LISBP laboratory and CRITT INSA Toulouse's Bio-industries (under the aegis of TWB). By developing a new innovative and competitive process for the pretreatment of crystalline PET associated with its selective depolymerization, this public-private partnership strengthens the ability of this breakthrough innovation to quickly enter the industrial pilot phase.

"I am proud that teams CARBIOS, the LISBP and CRITT Bio-Industries have raised this enormous challenge that was the development of a method of recycling 100% of bottled water, milk and bottles cosmetic products. This success is the result of a multidisciplinary approach combining screening of microbial diversity, the discovery of a remarkable enzyme evolution by enzymatic engineering and process engineering. "Says Alain Marty, Scientific Director of CARBIOS.

PET plastics market is a global production of 21 million tonnes in 2014 [2] with an annual growth rate of 4 to 5%. [3] The intrinsic qualities of this thermoplastic material are polyester favored by the majority of manufacturers for the manufacture of bottles (69% PET plastic), followed by movies (14%), packaging (10%) and other applications (7 %). However, recycling by conventional technology involves sorting heavy constraints for a limited recycling rate in fine and especially conversion to lower quality of secondary products.

Enzymatic biorecyclage CARBIOS brings unprecedented technological solution to meet the needs of producers of PET bottles and packaging while addressing the current problems of the recycling industry. By making PET, crystalline and amorphous, infinitely recyclable, CARBIOS opens a new market that will allow the production of high performance plastics from 100% recycled PET. This robust and highly selective technology also offers the ability to effectively treat plastic waste not recycled today. It will thus support the directions taken in the "Circular Economy Package" [4] of the European Commission to reach at least 55% of plastic waste recycled in 2025.

"  These results support our innovative approach to industrial plastics biorecyclage PET and offers the prospect of a rapid deployment of our technology alongside owner of the largest global players in the sector ." Says Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO of CARBIOS.