Biotech company Carbios has secured funding of €53.5 million to set up the world’s first 100% PET biorecycling plant at Longlaville in the Grand-Est region, and to help it continue research into the optimisation of its enzymatic technologies.
- Due for commissioning in 2025, €30 million of the total amount to be used for the biocycling plant has been received from the French State as part of the investment plan France 2030, and €12.5 million from the Grand-Est Region.
- The implementation of this funding is conditional to the European Commission’s approval of the corresponding State aid scheme, followed by the conclusion of national aid agreements.
- A total of €11.4 million is from the French state as part of France 2030, of which €8.2 million is directly for Carbios (€5 million in repayable advances) and €3.2 million for its academic partners INRAE, INSA, and CNRS via the TWB and TBI joint service and research units.
- In an earlier development, Indorama Ventures Company Limited, a global chemicals producer, also signed an MoU to form a joint venture for the construction of the PET or polyester recycling facility for which it would mobilise about €110 million in equity and non-convertible loan financing.
- The contract documentation is expected to be finalised before the end of 2023.
The Plant: The commissioning of the plant in 2025 will be followed by a period of ramp-up to full capacity.
- The plant will have a nominal processing capacity of 50,000 tonnes of PET waste per year, equivalent to 2 billion bottles or 2.5 billion food trays.
- This selection for funding by the French State and the Grand-Est Region complements the recent announcement of an exclusive, long-term partnership with Novozymes, the world leader in enzyme production.
- One of the main aims is to ensure the supply of enzymes to Carbios’ Longlaville plant and future licensed plants.
- In addition, Carbios recently secured a first supply source for its future plant by winning part of the CITEO tender for the biorecycling of multilayer trays.
WHAT THEY SAID:
Fighting plastic pollution is a global emergency that requires a drastic reduction in its use, but also an increase in its recycling. For many years, French public and private research teams have been working together to develop a new enzymatic recycling technology. By supporting the construction of Carbios first biorecycling plant in the world, France is proving that Carbios’ technology has now become an industrial reality, making it possible to recycle waste that was previously difficult to recycle.
— Christophe Béchu
Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion
France
I’m delighted to be able to announce, at the opening of the World Plastics Conference, the French State’s support of nearly €54 million for Carbios’ innovative enzymatic plastic recycling projects. The construction in France in 2023 of the world’s first enzymatic plastic recycling plant is an important step towards building a fully circular plastic economy, one of the greatest environmental challenges of the next two decades. This project shows just how much the ecological transition is also an opportunity for the green reindustrialization of our country.
— Roland Lescure
Minister for Industry
France
France 2030’s support is twofold: to provide France with an innovative plastics processing solution, and to position Carbios’ business model, based on license sales, at an international level. Carbios is a company whose development has been progressive, from public research, through the creation of a start-up, to the industrialization of a technological process. This is a continuum that France 2030 supports in particular, and Carbios is an excellent showcase.
— Bruno Bonnell
Secretary-General, Investment
France 2030
The Carbios reference plant is fully in line with the ambition of the Grand-Est region to become a leader in the PET circular economy. This project represents a further milestone in the construction of our ecosystem. The plant will secure the sales of the first volumes of recycled PET produced with Carbios’ technology, and to offer its partners recycled PET of the same quality as virgin PET. Once the necessary permits have been obtained, which should be granted by the end of 2023, in line with the announced start of construction before the end of the year.
— Franck Leroy
President
Grand-Est Region
We are encouraged by the positive results of the due diligence our teams have performed so far on the technical soundness of Carbios’ technology. We are confident that this groundbreaking development could be a valuable addition to the range of solutions for the circular economy of PET plastics and fibers. Subject to the successful performance of the Longlaville Project, we are considering expanding Carbios’ technology at other sites worldwide for future development.
— Yash Lohia
Chairman, ESG Council
Indorama Ventures
Thanks to the French State’s previous support, we were able to demonstrate the economic and environmental competitiveness of our technology at the industrial demonstrator scale in Clermont-Ferrand. The renewed support from ADEME and that of the Grand-Est Region are crucial for this new industrial step which marks the start of our international deployment. Our first plant will be the global showcase for our PET biorecycling technology, and we are very proud that it is located in France.
— Emmanuel Ladent
Chief Executive Officer
Carbios
