Companies Join Consortium to Support Plastics Recycling Technology

On behalf of their consortium, Carbios (Euronext Growth Paris: ALCRB), a company pioneering new, bio-industrial solutions to reinvent the lifecycle of plastic and textile polymers, and L’Oréal announced a major partnership with Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe. 

Carbios has developed a unique and sustainable technology using highly specific enzymes that can recycle much broader PET plastics and polyester fibers feedstock than other recycling technologies. This process creates recycled PET (rPET), equivalent to virgin PET, that can be used for applications like bottles and other forms of packaging.

Carbios and L’Oréal previously founded the consortium to bring enhanced recycling technology designed and developed by Carbios to market on an industrial scale. Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe are joining the consortium to help support the circular plastics economy using Carbios’ breakthrough enzyme-based enhanced recycling technology.

“We are thrilled to welcome Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe into the consortium we have created with L’Oréal,” said Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO of Carbios, in a statement. “Their contribution will accelerate our common ambition and help to industrialize our recycling technology, which brings a breakthrough solution in the treatment of plastic waste.”

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Under the terms of the four-year agreement, the consortium partners’ ambition is to bring Carbios’ PET-enhanced recycling technology to the market and increase the availability of high-quality recycled plastics to fulfill their sustainability commitments. The collaboration includes technical milestones and support for the efficient supply of consumer-grade, 100 percent recycled PET plastics for global markets.

Carbios has developed a process that breaks down PET plastic waste into its original building blocks, which can be used to produce high-quality PET plastic. This patented technology offers the potential to recycle PET plastics repeatedly and pave the way for 100 percent rPET content in new products.

Carbios added it recently achieved a world first using its enzymatic technology to create PET bottles from 100 percent recycled plastics. This biological approach can handle all forms of PET plastics (clear, colored, opaque and multilayer) and polyester fibers. The process requires limited heat and no pressure or solvents, which improves its environmental impact and also provides a competitive solution to increase global plastic recycling rates.

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“We are convinced that Carbios’ technology is a new step forward, in addition to the mechanical and chemical recycling that contribute to reaching our 2025 goals: 50 percent of our products’ plastic components is recycled or bio-sourced,” said Philippe Thuvien, packaging and development vice president at L’Oréal, in a statement. “We know that by working together with our partners, we will succeed in creating a more sustainable world based on circular economy principles.”