Carbios has partnered with French sleeve label manufacturer Sleever to develop home compostable shrink sleeves.
The France-based biochemistry company will supply Sleever with its PLA biodegradation enzyme called Carbios Active. The companies have signed an exclusive, long-term contract to co-develop home compostable biodegradable mono-oriented transverse shrink films.
The partners will integrate Carbios Active into the manufacturing of PLA films. Its enzymatic biodegradation process makes polylactic acid 100% compostable, even at room temperature, thereby improving the material’s compostability which is usually only possible under industrial conditions at controlled temperatures.
The resulting sleeves will be used in labelling and wrapping application, as well as for securing packaging for the luxury goods and mass retail markets.
“Our partnership with Sleever to bring compostable sleeves to market opens up new commercial opportunities for Carbios, particularly in the wine and spirits sector where Sleever is a leader,” said Emmanuel Ladent, CEO at Carbios. “Thanks to the inclusion of Carbios Active in the formula, these types of packaging become compostable at room temperature, and therefore contribute to a more sustainable packaging industry.”
The enzyme 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.
Carbios operates a production line for the PLA enzyme at its headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France. With a 2,500 tonnes/year capacity, the line produces enough enzyme to produce the equivalent of 50,000 tonnes/year of enzymed PLA.