Carbios, a French startup, developed a new process to break down the most problematic PET plastics (like contaminated black food trays) using enzymes. It could be the plastic recycling solution the world’s been waiting for! The method works so well that it breaks down the plastic into a form so pure, it can even be used to make clear water bottles, identical to those made from petroleum.
The bio-recycling company envisions a perfect circular plastic economy, one where nothing goes to waste. Its vision has been well received too! Major global corporations are funding Carbios. Nestlé Waters, L’Oréal, PepsiCo, and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe, are all eager to get the recycling technology to market as soon as possible. These corporations are also supporting Carbios with expertise in addition to backing.
It has secured two US patents (which it plans to lease to recycling companies) for its proprietary enzymatic process (technology) to break-down, purify, and reuse PET. Currently, only a small percentage of that type of plastic gets recycled.
Not only does a drastic amount of plastic need to be recycled, but multinational consumer-product corporations still need plastic for their merchandise. Most of these companies have pledged to have their packaging and products manufactured from recycled plastic. Carbios is ready to recycle and source recycled plastic for them. For example, both L’Oréal and Nestlé are confident that Carbios’s technology will help them attain their 2025 goals. The goals require that 50% of their products’ plastic components be bio-sourced or recycled.’
Martin Stephan, Carbios’s deputy CEO:
They need more recycled materials… and they know that reaching those goals is impossible with the existing technologies. We will bring volumes by recycling material waste, which today is not recycled because they have low or no value.
How It Works
- Everything is tossed into a bioreactor together (pulverized) – bottles, polyester clothing, food trays, etc. – and mixed with water and enzymes.
- The mixture is heated up and churned.
- The process doesn’t use solvents.
- Within hours the enzymes decompose the plastic into monomers (the material’s basic building blocks).
- The monomers are then separated, purified, and used to manufacture new plastic.
The process could occur in an infinite loop because, no matter how many times you put the plastic through it, it doesn’t lose quality.
Stephan said:
Our process can use any kind of PET waste to manufacture any kind of PET object. The final product will be the same quality as the petrochemical PET.
Even colored bottles can be recycled into transparent plastic because the process enables the removal of dye!
The only challenge left now is getting the consumers to recycle in the first place. Stephan said he is confident that if they understand that plastic waste is a valuable raw material, they will participate. Of course, education on the matter is essential – just as much as investments in collection and sorting facilities.
