Carbios, FCC Environment look to establish UK-based PET biorecycling plant

Carbios, a French firm that uses biological technologies to recycle plastics and textiles, has signed a letter of intent with United Kingdom-based waste and recycling management company FCC Environment UK to jointly study the building of a UK-based plant that would license Carbios’ polyethylene terephthalate (PET) biorecycling technology.

Carbios says its technology is key to supporting FCC’s continued goal of contributing to the circular economy by exploring new ways to produce recycled PET (rPET) from PET plastic and textiles, and that the letter of intent confirms interest form the waste management sector, in addition to plastic producers, and would mean a foothold for its technology in the UK.

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According to FCC, exploring biorecycling is one way to achieve a circular economy, and it aims to understand this technology better by seeking an evidence-based view on the advantages of using enzymes for the treatment of PET, such as lower energy consumption and better circularity of the polymers back into the PET production lines. Carbios says its depolymerization process also facilitates the recycling of all kinds of PET scrap, including problematic fractions such as polyester textiles, into high-quality rPET.

“By creating value from waste, Carbios’ PET biorecycling technology is generating significant interest from waste management companies, proving that Carbios’ solution is relevant to both PET producers and waste management companies,” Carbios CEO Emmanuel Ladent says. “For Carbios, 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. I’m confident that the combination of our complementary areas of expertise will benefit both our companies, and the acceleration of a circular economy.”

In addition to its first industrial-scale enzymatic PET recycling plant—currently under construction in Longlaville, France—the UK-based facility would process PET that currently is deemed nonrecyclable via conventional recycling technologies, such as colored, multilayered or textile scrap.

“To deliver 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, and textiles, as we know from our work promoting a reuse culture, pose a huge challenge to our sector," says Steve Longdon, CEO of FCC. "We are keen to explore with Carbios what contribution this technology could make to the UK circular economy and to examine further its place in the UK waste hierarchy from a firm evidence base.”