Green chemistry company Carbios has partnered with cosmetics manufacturer L’Oreal for establishing a consortium for bio-recycling of plastic on an industrial scale.
The five-year consortium will aim to introduce an enzymatic bio-recycling technology designed and developed by Carbios to market, as part of the partners’ commitment to promote the circular economy with innovative plastic recycling solutions.
It will be open to industries from other sectors which are planning to create new plastic bio-recycling solutions.
Carbios CEO Jean-Claude Lumaret said: “Our enzyme technology provides a brand new solution for optimising the performance and life cycle of plastics.
“L’Oreal’s commitment to sustainable development helps drive innovation, and we are confident that other international companies will join the project in the coming months to help us initiate a major transition in the way we produce the plastic materials of tomorrow.”
Carbios’ enzymatic bio-recycling process for plastics disintegrates polymers down to the basic components called as monomers which were used originally to create them.
Upon separation and purification, the monomers can be reused to create virgin plastic. This newly created plastic will be produced without losing any value during the recycling process, stated the partners.
The biological process is claimed to be devoid of the limitations faced by traditional recycling techniques. It is also said to be the first step to create a new method of managing the plastic life cycle in compliance with the circular economy.
According to Carbios, the manufacturers in the consortium like L’Oreal will benefit from the development of the enzymatic bio-recycling technology and will be first to get the units whenever they are ready.
L’Oreal packaging & development vice-president Philippe Thuvien said: “L’Oreal has been committed to an ambitious sustainable packaging programme for several years now.
“We currently use up to 100% recycled plastic for several different products. We’ve decided to go even further: with this innovative Carbios technology, L’Oreal is helping to make bio-recycling available on an industrial scale.”