Carbios and Indorama Ventures are partnering to build an enzymatic  PET bio-recycling production plant in Longlaville, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France, with a processing capacity of around 50,000 tons of post-consumer PET waste per year – the equivalent to 2 billion PET bottles or 2.5 billion PET trays.

The capital investment required for the project is expected to be around €150 million for Carbios core technology, with an estimated €50 million for the infrastructure preparation of the site.

In the coming months, Carbios expects to finalise strong non-dilutive financial support from French Government and from the Grand-Est Region, based on an offer already received from the French Minister of Industry, Agnès Pannier-Runacher and the President of Grand-Est Region, Jean Rottner.

This financial support will be conditional on the notification to the European Commission and on contractualisation by French authorities and follows January’s announcement by Eastman of a $1 billion material-to-material molecular polyester recycling facility in France.

This latest project is expected to create approximatively 150 direct and indirect full-time jobs.

“We are very pleased that Carbios and Indorama Ventures have chosen France to build their first 100% bio-recycled PET manufacturing plant,” said Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Recovery. “From cutting-edge science, Carbios has developed a disruptive technology and process that enables the efficient transformation of plastic waste into novel valuable products. This breakthrough project showcases the government’s ambition within France 2030 – getting ready for the challenges of the next decade. Combining biotechnology and a renewed industrial ambition will be key to achieve a more circular economy.”

Carbios is a pioneer in the development of enzymatic solutions dedicated to the end-of-life of plastic and textile polymers and has already successfully started-up a demonstration plant in Clermont-Ferrand,.

“With this first medium-sized plant, we want to become the world reference for the circular economy of plastics and textiles,” said its CEO Emmanuel Ladent. “By engaging in such a partnership with Indorama Ventures, we confirm our commitment to pursue our initial industrial development in France. This plant will pave the way towards international commercial and industrial deployment. We are grateful to our shareholders, partners, the French Government, and Grand-Est Region for sharing our ambitions and vision towards a profitable circular economy.”

After the positive results of Indorama Ventures’ initial analysis on the technical soundness of Carbios technology over the past several months, both parties agreed to complete a due diligence process. A feasibility study will be conducted for the industrialization of Carbios technology at the Indorama Ventures French production site. Subject to the successful completion of these technical and economical evaluations, Indorama Ventures will co-invest in the project.

www.carbios.com

www.indoramaventures.com