Carbios has been working to develop enzymatic recycling since its founding in 2011. Its PET-degrading enzyme has been shown to outperform the competition.
More recently, the France-based biotech company has also developed enzymes to aid biodegradation. Its enzymatic biodegradation process makes polylactic acid (PLA) 100% compostable, even at room temperature, thereby improving the material’s compostability which is usually only possible under industrial conditions at controlled temperatures.
The enzyme, called Carbios Active, was developed by Carbiolice, a Carbios Group company. It allows plastic packaging made from PLA to be collected together with bio-waste and to be recovered through either industrial or domestic composting or methanization. The enzyme is integrated directly into the manufacturing of flexible or rigid PLA packaging, without any changes to production lines. The technology remains inactive throughout the product’s useful life, without altering its mechanical properties, according to Carbios. The encapsulated enzyme purportedly only becomes active when collected with biowaste and under composting conditions.
Now, Carbios Active has been included in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Inventory of Effective Food Contact Substances (FCS) with the Assigned Food Contact Notification (FCN) 2325.
The inclusion means the enzyme can be used to make packaging materials that are sold in the United States and come into contact with food, including rigid and flexible packaging, amongst other applications. Carbios Active has also recently been certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), North America’s leading authority on compostable products and packaging.
“For Carbios, product safety is of utmost priority and we consider FCN from the FDA as the gold standard,” said Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of Carbios. “The US is a key market for Carbios’ biodegradation solution and we expect the FCN clearance to drive significant additional demand in North America in 2024.”
The PLA market accounted for 27% of global bioplastics production in 2022.