Carbios plans to select European reference unit site

Carbios, a France-based company focused on the development of enzymatic solutions for end-of-life plastic and textile polymers, has announced plans to accelerate the industrial development of its enzymatic recycling process—C-Zyme—with the construction of its reference unit in Europe. The C-Zyme enzymatic recycling technology converts polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into its basic components, which can be used to make 100 percent recycled and 100 percent recyclable PET without loss of quality.

According to a news release from Carbios, the company has shortlisted two PET producers to host its future reference unit. The industrial sites considered are in Europe, including one in France.

“To consolidate our strategy and be ready for 2025, the date by which major industrial players are aiming for 100 percent recyclable and recycled packaging, we are entering the final stage of our industrial development,” says Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of Carbios. “Discussions with our potential partners and public authorities are in process, and we can expect the location of our future first-of-its-kind reference unit to be announced in the coming weeks.”

Carbios reports that it received “excellent results” from its industrial demonstration plant, which began operations in September 2021 in France. The company says the demonstration plant performance ensured the technology was ready for industrial scale-up. Depolymerization kinetics and yields obtained at the demonstration plant were identical to those obtained at the company’s pilot facility. “These promising results allow us to envision a large-scale deployment of Carbios’ enzymatic recycling process,” says Alain Marty, Carbios’ chief scientific officer.

The company says its industrial teams are performing comparative audits of the two potential industrial sites submitted by PET manufacturers. Carbios also is working on development plans for the construction of the reference unit. Engineering work has begun and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.