Green chemistry firm Carbios has produced first PET-bottles from 100% recycled plastic waste by using its advanced biorecycling technology.
Image: Carbios has produced first PET-bottles by using biorecycling technology. Photo: courtesy of CARBIOS.
Carbios has manufactured PET-bottles made with 100% purified Terephthalic Acid (rPTA) via enzymatic biorecycling of plastic waste.
The company said the achievement of key milestone reflects the potential of its technology to engage the whole industry drive towards a circular economy.
Carbios chief scientific officer Alain Marty said: “We have successfully developed the first biological process with which all kinds of PET plastic waste can be broken down into its original components and reused to produce virgin plastic products for applications such as PET-bottles.
“This new step shows the strong potential of Carbios’ enzymatic technology and provides a breakthrough solution to help solve society’s growing waste problem.”
Earlier, Carbios showed that its biorecycling technology, based on the use of bioengineered enzymes, had allowed to convert PET plastic waste back into its original components at a rate of 97% in only 16 hours.
The company also showed that virgin PET can be made with 100% rPTA through its advanced biorecycling process, which uses various post-consumer PET plastic bottles such as clear, colored, opaque, complex.
Carbios’s technology also enabled to use 100% rPTA for the production of PET-bottles, which are in line with brand and customer requirements.
PET, which is the common polyester on the market, can be used to produce plastic packaging, textile fibers.
Carbios’ technology enables to produce sustainable plastic products for brand-owners and consumers, and also allows to decouple the production of new plastic bottles from petrochemical feedstock.
Carbios CEO Jean-Claude Lumaret said: The plastics industry faces fundamental challenges related to sustainability. Our technology, based on a circular model, reuses resources rather than consuming them.
“With the construction of our demonstration plant to start later this year, we’re aiming to engage the whole plastics industry in a transition towards a circular economy and take a leadership role as a global license provider for the biorecycling of PET plastics and fibers.”