Carbios finds engineering partner for PET recycling project

Belgium-based De Smet Engineers & Contractors (DSEC) has agreed to provide project management and engineering services, including procurement assistance, for Carbios’ planned plastics recycling facility in Longlaville, France.

France-based Carbios uses an enzyme-based process to undertake depolymerization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic and textile scrap that it refers to as biorecycling, rather than using the terms advanced recycling or chemical recycling.

Last June, Thailand-based Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd. signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Carbios to form a joint venture to construct the biorecycling facility on land adjacent to an existing Indorama facility.

In its mid-February announcement about DSEC’s involvement, Carbios says the Longlaville facility is due for commissioning in 2025.

The Longlaville facility will have a processing capacity of 50,000 tons of postconsumer PET scrap per year, which Carbios says is equivalent to 2 billion colored PET bottles, 2.5 billion PET trays or 300 million T-shirts. By concentrating on PET, Carbios says the planned facility will take in discarded materials “with little or no value to date such as colored PET bottles, food trays and textiles.”

“With over 70 members of De Smet’s expert team dedicated to the project and working alongside Carbios teams, the collaboration aims to guarantee the project timeline and budget while upholding stringent quality, safety, health, and environmental standards," Carbios says of its new partner. "Construction is currently underway and on schedule."

“De Smet has an excellent track record in the engineering and management of complex industrial projects and has extensive experience in water-based technologies," Carbios CEO Emmanuel Ladent adds.

On its website, DSEC portrays numerous agribusiness and petrochemical industry projects in which it has been involved. The company was spun off from agricultural sector company the De Smet Group in 1990.