#Recycling / Circular Economy

2024-02-15

CARBIOS and De Smet Engineers & Contractors enter engineering partnership for construction of world’s first PET biorecycling plant

CARBIOS (Euronext Growth Paris: ALCRB), a pioneer in the development and industrialization of biological technologies to reinvent the life cycle of plastic and textiles, and De Smet Engineers & Contractors (DSEC), a world-class provider of Engineering, Procurement and Construction services in the biotech’s and agro-processing industries, jointly announce their collaboration to spearhead the construction of the world's first PET biorecycling plant.

Under the agreement, De Smet has been entrusted with the project management and detailed engineering, including procurement assistance and CARBIOS partners’ management, to ensure the execution of the plant's construction in Longlaville, France, due for commissioning in 2025. CARBIOS’ first commercial facility will play a key role in the fight against plastic pollution by offering an industrial-scale solution for the enzymatic depolymerization of PET waste to accelerate a circular economy for plastic and textiles.

With over 70 members of De Smet's expert team dedicated to the project and working alongside CARBIOS teams, the collaboration aims to guarantee the project timeline and budget while upholding stringent quality, safety, health, and environmental standards. Construction is currently underway and on schedule.

Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of CARBIOS: “De Smet was selected after a comprehensive bidding process, and we are very confident in our successful cooperation. De Smet has an excellent track record in the engineering and management of complex industrial projects and has extensive experience in water-based technologies. With our combined expertise and shared ambition, this collaboration marks a significant step towards fulfilling CARBIOS' vision of a sustainable future for plastic and textiles.”

Dimitri de Suraÿ, CEO of De Smet Engineers & Contractors (DSEC): “Perfectly aligned with our ambition to contribute to the environmental transition by implementing novel biotechnology process and by boosting the bio-economy, we are proud to support CARBIOS' groundbreaking investment, thanks to our agility in project execution which ensures its timely and competitive industrial realization. We are thrilled to have been entrusted by CARBIOS with the construction of the plant and are fully committed to the success of this innovative project.”

About the world’s first PET biorecycling plant

CARBIOS' technology enables PET circularity and provides an alternative raw material to petro-sourced monomers, allowing PET producers, waste management companies, public entities, and brands to have an efficient solution to meet regulatory requirements and fulfill their own sustainability commitments. The plant will have a processing capacity of 50,000 tons of post-consumer PET waste per year (equivalent to 2 billion colored PET bottles, 2.5 billion PET trays, or 300 million T-shirts) and will address waste with little or no value to date such as colored PET bottles, food trays, and textiles. The plant will create 150 direct and indirect jobs in the region. In October 2023, CARBIOS obtained the building and site operating permits. The plant is currently under construction in Longlaville in the Grand-Est Region on land officially acquired from Indorama Ventures on 14 February 2024.

CARBIOS and Wankai sign strategic PET biorecycling pact

CARBIOS (Euronext Growth Paris: ALCRB) and Wankai New Materials (“Wankai”), a listed subsidiary of Zhink Group, the 3rd largest PET producer in China and 4th worldwide, announce the signing of the definitive agreement establishing a strategic partnership for the industrial rollout of CARBIOS’s PET biorecycling technology in Asia. The first milestone will be the construction of a PET biorecycling plant in China.

CARBIOS presents its 2025 half-year results and confirms its objective to build a PET biorecycling plant, with a revised timeline

CARBIOS (Euronext Growth Paris: ALCRB), a pioneer in the development and industrialization of biological technologies aimed at reinventing the lifecycle of plastics and textiles, today announces its 2025 half-year results and confirms its objective to build a PET biorecycling plant in Longlaville, with a revised timeline.

CARBIOS enters the r-PET market for tire textile filaments

CARBIOS (Euronext Growth Paris: ALCRB) announces the signing of a multi-year commercial agreement with Indorama Ventures, the global leader in PET production. This agreement covers the supply of biorecycled monomers from its Longlaville plant, which will be transformed into r-PET filaments by Indorama Ventures and then integrated by Michelin into the manufacturing of its tires.

Innovation center for textile circular economy inaugurated

Just over eight months after the foundation stone was laid, the new Innovation Center for Textile Circular Economy was officially inaugurated today at TITK Rudolstadt. Thuringia's Minister President Mario Voigt, TITK Director Benjamin Redlingshöfer, and other guests of honor cut the ribbon to the modern building complex and viewed the premises, which are now ready for occupancy. The “DICE – Demonstration and Innovation Center for Textile Circular Economy” is TITK's largest single investment to date. The Free State of Thuringia supported the total cost of €11.5 million with €8 million in GRW and FTI funding.

Waste2Fashion: FTTH Committed to advancing Circular Fashion in the Mediterranean

As an official partner of the Waste2Fashion project, the Tunisian Federation of Textile and Apparel (FTTH) participated in the Kick-off Meeting held on 10–11 December in Spain. The event brought together project partners from across the Mediterranean, including Spain, Italy, Egypt, Lebanon, and Tunisia, to align on a shared vision and initiate the first implementation steps.

Sustainable design of Geosynthetics and roof underlayments made from recyclates

Is it possible to recover plastic recyclates from previously unused waste streams in order to produce high-quality fibers and films? How can bio-based polymer fibers be manufactured so as to allow adjustable biodegradability? These are the questions being addressed by researchers from the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE in the Zirk-Tex project.

AATCC announces 2025 Herman & Myrtle Goldstein Graduate Student Paper Competition winners

The American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) recognized the winners of the 2025 Herman & Myrtle Goldstein Graduate Student Paper Competition. Founded in 1982 to give student members the chance to conduct and present original research, the competition was renamed in 1994 in honor of Herman and Myrtle Goldstein, following their US$60,000 endowment. Their gift is a lasting remembrance of their dedication to young people in the textile industry.

Yanpai expands nonwovens capacity with two new ANDRITZ needlepunch lines

Zhejiang Yanpai Filter Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Yanpai”) has placed an order with international technology group ANDRITZ for two high-performance needlepunch lines. The equipment will be installed at Yanpai’s headquarters facility in Tiantai County, China. Commissioning is scheduled for the third quarter of 2026.