CHEMICAL RECYCLING | PROJECTS
Mechanical recycling accounts for the major part of PET recycling, but other approaches that are based on depolymerisation and other processes are also being developed around the world. By Peter Mapleston
Alternative PET recycling projects move forward
Several projects are underway around the world on different ways to treat PET packaging and fibre waste that is unfit for mechanical recycling. French company Carbios is developing a
recycling process that uses an enzyme capable of specifically depolymerising PET in moulded plastics and in textiles (see Plastics Recycling World Nov/ Dec 2021). The Carbios demonstration plant, which started up last September in central France, is now fully operational, and company CEO Emmanuel Ladent says results are “extremely good.” The process book should be ready around the end of the year, enabling the company to move ahead on licensing the technology. Carbios is talking with several major potential customers, including not only PET producers, but also waste management companies and possibly even brand owners. The plant, which operates on a batch basis, can
process up to 2,000 kg of waste at a time, with each run taking between 10 and 20 hours. It has already achieved a yield of 97% when running for close to 20 hours. “We are very confident about the technology, but we continue to optimise the process and the enzymes. Our goal is almost 100% yield,” says Ladent.
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This February, the company announced that it would build its first reference unit, with an input capacity of 50,000 tonnes in Longlaville, France, close to the borders with Belgium and Luxem- bourg, in partnership with Indorama Ventures. Indorama already has a polymer production unit on an adjacent site. Ladent also says that large amounts of waste are managed in the area, so supply logistics should be advantageous. Negotia- tions are currently ongoing with potential feed- stock suppliers. Several months ago, Carbios formed a consortium with various brands in the packaging chain, including L’Oréal, Nestlé, PepsiCo, on plastics. In early July, the company announced a similar consortium for the textiles chain, involving Patagonia, On, Puma, and Salomon, to develop solutions that will enhance the recyclability and circularity of their products. An important element of the two-year deal will be to speed up the introduction of Carbios’ bio-recycling technology for application to the textile industry. Carbios and the four companies will also research how products can be recycled, develop solutions to take-back worn polyester items, including sorting and dismantling technolo-
Main image: Carbios is taking its enzymatic process out of the lab and demonstration plant into a reference plant in France
November/December 2022 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 27
IMAGE: CARBIOS
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