NEWS
Enzyme speeds up degradation of PLA
IMAGE: CARBIOS Carbios is running a 2,500 tonnes/year production line for its PLA-digesting enzyme
Biotech company Carbios has published details of an enzyme that accelerates the degradation of PLA. Carbios says that PLA embedded with its enzyme – called Carbios Active – will fully biodegrade more quickly than the 26-week home-com- post certification requirement. In addition, it produces more biometh- ane. However, enzyme-embedded PLA remains stable during long-term storage because the enzyme only activates under composting or methanisation conditions. A production line at Carbios
headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France can produce 2,500 tonnes/year of the enzyme – enough for 50,000 tonnes/year of enzyme-embedded PLA. The enzyme was recently award- ed Food Contact Notification certifica- tion by the US Food and Drug Admin- istration, allowing it to be used in packaging materials sold in the US. The science behind the latest enzyme was detailed in a paper – ‘An engineered enzyme embedded into PLA to make self-biodegradable plastic’ – which was recently pub- lished in Nature. It was co-authored by researchers from the Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI). The paper reported “an 80-fold activity enhancement” of the “hyper-
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thermostable PLA hydrolase”. The liquid enzyme was incorporated into polycaprolactone – a low-melting- temperature polymer – through melt extrusion at 70°C to form an ‘enzy- mated’ polycaprolactone master- batch, which was used to disperse the enzyme into the PLA matrix. An enzymated PLA film (incorpo-
rating 0.02% of enzyme by weight) fully disintegrated under home-com- post conditions within 20–24 weeks, meeting home-composting stand- ards. The mechanical and degrada- tion properties of the film were compatible with industrial packaging applications, said the researchers. Alain Marty, chief scientific officer
at Carbios, said: “Developing an efficient enzyme that can withstand the 170°C needed to introduce it into PLA offers a practical, scalable approach to various industrial PLA-based packaging applications.” Earlier this year, Carbios opened a
plant that recycles PET into its monomers, using a different enzyme. “As we expand our portfolio, enzyme-embedded PLA represents a major leap forward, addressing a critical gap in the market for com- postable plastic,” said Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of Carbios. �
www.carbios.com
Efficiency, sustainability and circularity
Efficient lines for a low specific energy consumption
Decreasing use of raw materials & “zero waste” in film production
Solutions for bio-based and bio-degradable packaging films
Mono-material solutions to close the life cycle of BOPP, BOPET and BOPE
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