French companies develop PET bottle made from enzymatic recycling

Carbios, a France-based company that uses biological technologies to recycle plastic and textiles, and international cosmetics brand L’Occitane en Provence, also based in France, have partnered to develop a transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle made entirely from enzymatic recycling for a shower oil from the Amande range.

In collaboration with converter Pinard Beauty Pack, the companies say the bottle exemplifies a shared desire to build an efficient European recycling sector to accelerate the transition to a circular economy for plastic and meet brands’ commitments for more sustainable packaging solutions. The bottle will be on display at Carbios’ Stand D02 at “Edition Spéciale” by LuxePack, the trade show dedicated to sustainable premium packaging, taking place June 4-5 at the Carreau du Temple in Paris.

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According to Carbios, the PET bottle was made via its enzymatic depolymerization process and with a European value chain committed to responsible consumption of sustainable materials. The bottle’s production began with the local supply of PET scrap that had already been collected, sorted and prepared and was sent to Carbios’ industrial demonstrator in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The material consisted of colored bottles, multilayer trays and mechanical recycling residues.

Carbios says it deconstructed the PET material into its original monomers, PTA and MEG, using its biorecycling technology. The resulting monomers were then repolymerized into new, fully recycled PET resins. In Oyonnax, France, these resins were blow-molded by Pinard Beauty Pack to create bottles according to L’Occitane’s specifications, then filled with its shower oil at its Manosque plant.

Carbios says this European approach optimizes the environmental benefits of the technology and the life cycle analysis of each product by reducing transport distances and integrating local collection and production processes. The company adds that to mee the needs of international brands, similar chains will have to be established worldwide.

“Carbios’ innovation accelerates the transition to a circular economy by offering an alternative to petro-sourced PET and a circular PET recycling solution that reduces CO₂ emissions by 57 percent,” says Carbios CEO Emmanuel Ladent. “But to create an efficient recycling sector, all players in the value chain have their part to play and must work together. The long-term partnership between Carbios and L’Occitane is testament of this shared desire to promote more responsible consumption. The bottle produced with L’Occitane and its converter Pinard illustrates how the industry is moving forward.”

David Bayard, research and development director at L’Occitane, says the company is a cultivator of change and is proud to be part of a forward-looking industry. “Today, just over 50 percent of our PET material is from recycled origin. Thanks in particular to Carbios and depolymerization technologies, we will be able to reach 100 percent by 2027 for all our retail bottles. We are very satisfied with the quality of the bottle produced in collaboration with Carbios and Pinard, which enables us to reduce our reliance on fossil-based plastic and offers a viable alternative with equivalent quality and transparency, which is important to showcase our products.”

Carbios says recent life cycle analyses show a 57 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions in its process compared to virgin plastic production, and for every ton of recycled PET produced, 1.3 tons of oil are avoided. Compared with conventional recycling, the company says enzymatic recycling is five times more circular, citing calculations based on the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Material Circularity Indicator.

The company says that because of its highly selective enzyme, which is optimized for efficient PET degradation, its depolymerization technology can handle all types of PET scrap, including colored, multilayer or textile material that cannot be recycled with current technologies. Additionally, the company says its process complements mechanical recycling, and the PTA and MEG monomers it produces make it possible to recreate recycled PET products suitable for food contact and of identical quality to those of petroleum origin.