Carbios, a company working on the development of enzymatic recycling solutions, has announced the official opening and launch of an industrial demonstration plant at its Cataroux site in Clermont-Ferrand, France.
The technology, called C-Zyme, is based on the enzymatic depolymerisation of PET. Following depolymerisation, monomers are purified before being repolymerised into virgin-quality PET Unlike traditional methods, Carbios' breakthrough enables the unlimited recycling of PET waste of all kinds (clear, colored, opaque, complex plastics, polyester textiles). The 100% recycled PET is 100% recyclable and suitable for PET applications across the board.
The demonstration plant marks the culmination of a prolonged development process. It is the first time the technology is being demonstrated at this scale.
“For more than 10 years, we have been creating innovative solutions to rethink the end of life of plastics and textiles,” said Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO at Carbios. “This industrial demonstration plant fulfils the promises of our enzymatic recycling process, C-Zyme.”
The demo plant will also serve to validate the technical, environmental, and economic performance of the enzymatic recycling process, and contribute to the design of future industrial units.
Carbios anticipates being able to draw up the complete engineering documents - the Process Design Package - for the building and operation of a 40,000-tonne/year capacity reference unit by the end of 2022, as well as for future factories to be run under licensing agreements.
"The demonstration plant includes a 20m3 depolymerization reactor capable of processing 2 tonnes of PET per cycle, which is the equivalent of 100,000 bottles. This is a watershed moment, highlighting how this revolutionary process works on a large scale," said Lumaret.
The operating parameters and production of the monomer batches are now being optimised by a team of 10 people. An initial hydrolysis has been successfully realised, confirming the upscaling of the process.
Carbios, is a green chemistry company, established in 2011 by Truffle Capital with the goal of developing an industrial solution to the recycling of PET plastics and textiles. Its enzymatic recycling technology deconstructs any type of PET plastic waste into its basic components which can then be reused to produce new virgin-like PET plastics. Carbios is working with multinational brands such as L’Oréal, Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe to implement its technology, and to lead the transition toward a truly circular economy.