L’ORÉAL Partners with CARBIOS to Found Consortium for Bio-Recycling of Plastic on an Industrial Scale

CARBIOS, a pioneer in the field of bioplasturgy, and L’ORÉAL, a worldwide beauty industry leader, have entered into a five-year agreement to jointly found consortium for bio-recycling of plastic on an industrial scale. The partnership is open to industries from other sectors looking to develop new plastic bio-recycling solutions.

“We are proud to have cofounded this consortium with L’ORÉAL,” said Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO of CARBIOS, in a statement. “Our enzyme technology provides a brand new solution for optimizing the performance and life cycle of plastics. L’ORÉAL’s commitment to sustainable development helps drive innovation, and we are confident that other international companies will join the project in the coming months to help us initiate a major transition in the way we produce the plastic materials of tomorrow.”

CARBIOS has developed an enzymatic bio-recycling process for plastics that breaks polymers down to the basic components (monomers) originally used to create them. Once separated and purified, the monomers can be used again to create virgin plastic, without losing any value through the recycling process. This biological process is free of the constraints facing conventional recycling techniques and is the first step to developing a new way of managing the plastic life cycle—in line with the circular economy.

“L’ORÉAL has been committed to an ambitious sustainable packaging programme for several years now,” said Philippe Thuvien, vice president of packaging and development for L’ORÉAL, in a statement. “We currently use up to 100 percent recycled plastic for several different products. We’ve decided to go even further: with this innovative CARBIOS technology, L’ORÉAL is helping to make bio-recycling available on an industrial scale. It’s a wonderful opportunity to protect the environment, and this consortium will also help boost the circular economy.”

L’ORÉAL and the other manufacturers in the consortium will benefit from the development of this CARBIOS innovation and will be first in line to receive the first available units. L’ORÉAL will use this new technology during the design phase for new packaging, thereby promoting the circular economy.