Carbios Finds PET Waste Supplier for Biorecycling Plant

Alexandra Harrell
·2 min read

Carbios has found a post-consumer waste supplier for the world’s first PET biorecycling plant.

The French biotech firm signed a memorandum of understanding with Hündgen for the waste management specialist to supply raw materials to Carbios’ new PET biorecycling plant.

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The Puma partner’s Longlaville, France, facility is currently under construction but will be able to process 50,000 tons of post-consumer PET waste annually. Once operational in 2025, Hündgen will supply the majority of the feedstock. The plant is also “strategically close” to nearby waste supplies in Belgium, Germany and Luxemburg.

“Through our partnership with Hündgen, Carbios has now secured most of the feedstock supply for our first commercial plant. Carbios’ innovative biorecycling technology enables the conversion of diverse PET waste allowing more flexibility in sourcing, and price-competitiveness compared with high-demand clear bottles,” Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of Carbios, said. “Our local sourcing strategy has also paid off and demonstrates the importance of locating biorecycling plants near waste supplies, an expertise that we’re keen to share with our future license holders.”

The partnership will leverage Hündgen’s network in sourcing and preparing light packaging waste collected from German households. That waste will be prepared into flakes, ready to be biorecycled using Carbios’ enzymatic depolymerization technology—which produces food-grade PTA and MEG—further re-polymerized into PET. Through this enzymatic depolymerization process, the Paris-based green chemistry company can process “all types of PET waste,” including those that cannot be recycled with existing technologies.

“Establishing new standards in the field of plastic packaging recycling requires the development and implementation of innovative technologies and the promotion of cross-border cooperation,” said Christian Hündgen, CEO of Hündgen. “In this context, we are delighted to be part of one of the leading projects in Europe in the field of PET non-bottle recycling.”