UK – CARBIOS and FCC Environment UK have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to explore the implementation of a PET biorecycling plant in the UK, using CARBIOS’ cutting-edge enzymatic technology.
Recycling in the UK has plateaued in recent years, but the UK government’s policies support a continued shift towards a circular economy.
FCC Environment is committed to this goal, emphasizing the need for innovation and investment to drive real environmental change.
CARBIOS believes that biorecycling is a key component of achieving a circular economy through its revolutionary enzymatic depolymerization process.
FCC is keen to gain a comprehensive understanding of the advantages of using enzymes for PET treatment.
Benefits include lower energy consumption and enhanced circularity, allowing polymers to be reintegrated into PET production lines.
CARBIOS’ depolymerization technology facilitates the recycling of all types of PET waste, including challenging fractions like polyester textiles, into high-quality recycled PET.
CARBIOS has developed an enzymatic depolymerization technology that enables efficient, solvent-free recycling of PET plastic and textile waste into virgin-like products.
The company is constructing the world’s first industrial-scale enzymatic PET recycling plant in Longlaville, France.
The proposed UK-based plant would handle PET waste that conventional recycling technologies cannot process, such as colored, multilayered, or textile waste.
Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of CARBIOS, stated, “By creating value from waste, CARBIOS’ PET biorecycling technology generates significant interest from waste management companies.
Partnering with FCC means access to feedstock at the source through its established collection systems, enhancing the efficiency and impact of our sustainable waste solution.”
Steve Longdon, CEO of FCC Environment UK, added, “To meet the challenges set out in the Environment Act, we need to think creatively about how we recover the value in materials that society no longer wants.
“Textiles pose a huge challenge to our sector. We are keen to explore with CARBIOS the contribution this technology could make to the UK circular economy and to examine its place in the UK waste hierarchy from a firm evidence base.”
CARBIOS recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nouvelles Fibres Textiles to establish a contract to supply polyester textiles to the biorecycling plant in France.
This initiative aims to redirect 5,000 tonnes of textiles annually towards biorecycling from 2026 onwards.
The polyester textiles will come from used or end-of-life textiles prepared for recycling by Nouvelles Fibres Textiles in France using CARBIOS’ enzymatic depolymerization technology.
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