#Recycling / Circular Economy

2024-07-25

CARBIOS and Nouvelles Fibres Textiles cooperate to develop the French polyester textile recycling industry

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 Nouvelles Fibres Textiles, a French company specializing in the recovery of end-of-life textiles, today announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a contract for the supply of polyester textiles to the world's first PET biorecycling plant currently under construction in Longlaville, France.

The polyester textiles supplied will come from used or end-of-life textiles prepared in France by Nouvelles Fibres Textiles for recycling using CARBIOS' enzymatic depolymerization technology. This contract will enable 5,000 tons a year of these textiles to be redirected towards biorecycling from 2026 onwards, over an initial 5-year period, demonstrating the commitment of industrial players all along the value chain to achieving textile circularity for a more sustainable textile sector.

Nouvelles Fibres Textiles and its various partners opened a unique semi-industrial site with an annual capacity of 1,000 tons in November 2023, the first step towards building a 20,000-to-30,000-ton unit in 2026. This first site, a research center for textile recycling, combines the know-how of Andritz Laroche (world leader in textile recycling), Pellenc ST (French leader in intelligent sorting solutions), Synergie TLC (major French player in collection and first sorting for solidarity) and the Tissages de Charlieu group (major French player in weaving, garment manufacturing and textile recycling). This unit transforms used textiles into high-quality raw materials, supplying the various industries that use textile fibers (non-wovens, insulation, plastic, textiles, etc.) by automatically sorting them by composition, while eliminating hard points (buttons, zips, patches, etc.).

CARBIOS' biorecycling technology uses enzymes to break down polyester fibers into their basic components. These components are then used to produce high-quality recycled PET materials, such as fibers for the textile industry. This “fiber-to-fiber” solution will enable polyester to become a truly circular fiber on a large scale.

CARBIOS X Nouvelles Fibres Textiles<br />
(L-R) Emmanuel Ladent (CEO, CARBIOS), Eric Boël (Co-director of Nouvelles Fibres Textiles) and Mathieu Berthoud (Strategic Sourcing Director, CARBIOS) © 2024 CARBIOS — CARBIOS X Nouvelles Fibres Textiles (L-R) Emmanuel Ladent (CEO, CARBIOS), Eric Boël (Co-director of Nouvelles Fibres Textiles) and Mathieu Berthoud (Strategic Sourcing Director, CARBIOS) © 2024 CARBIOS

"CARBIOS is known as a biotech company, but we're also a player in the textile industry. We actively collaborate with innovative companies like Nouvelles Fibres Textiles to create a truly circular economy for textiles. As demonstrated in the packaging sector, the introduction of large-scale polyester recycling solutions will catalyze the structuring of collection and preparation infrastructures. Together, Nouvelles Fibres Textiles and CARBIOS demonstrate that the French industry continues to develop, thanks to the complementarity between the various links in the value chain, from collection and preparation to recycling", states Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of CARBIOS.

Eric Boël and Etienne Wiroth, Co-directors of Nouvelles Fibres Textiles, say: "The textile industry represents all the excesses of our over-consumption. One of the most ecologically, economically and socially effective responses is the circular economy, because it preserves resources and boosts industrial sovereignty and local employment. But the extraordinary variety of textiles is holding back large-scale deployment. New technologies, such as CARBIOS' enzymatic depolymerization and automated sorting by composition, are overcoming this obstacle. Above all, the links forged between the companies involved in this new circular value chain are helping to make this sector emblematic of an industry that does good for people and the planet, from producer to consumer."

France, a pioneer and European leader in the quest for textile circularity

Thanks to legislative initiatives such as the AGEC[1] (Anti-Waste for a Circular Economy) and “Climat et Résilience[2]” (Climate and Resilience) laws, support from ADEME[3], the Refashion eco-organization, and committed companies contributing to industrial sovereignty by combining innovation, ecological transition, “Made in France” and growth, France is today at the forefront of accelerating a circular economy for textiles.

At European Union level, separate collection of textile waste will be mandatory in member states from 1 January 2025. The European Union's strategy for sustainable and circular textiles aims to ensure that, by 2030, textile products are largely made from recycled fibers, and that incineration and landfill are reduced to a minimum[4].

[1] https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/loi-anti-gaspillage-economie-circulaire

[2] https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/actualites/loi-climat-resilience-bilan-2-ans

[3] The French Environment and Energy Management Agency (Agence de l'environnement et de la maîtrise de l'énergie)

[4] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/fr/qanda_22_2015

Carbios and Wankai postpone startup of China’s first PET biorecycling plant to 2028

The industrial deployment of enzymatic PET recycling in Asia is progressing, but at a slower pace than initially planned. French recycling technology company Carbios and its Chinese partner Wankai New Materials have announced that the commissioning of their planned PET biorecycling facility in Haining, Zhejiang Province, has been postponed and is now expected in the first half of 2028.

Carbios confirms Longlaville plant in France following financing progress

Carbios has reaffirmed its plans to build its Longlaville plant in France within a project financing framework, targeting the start of production in the first half of 2028. The company also reports a solid cash position of around €60 million at the end of 2025 and has appointed Benoît Grenot as Deputy Chief Executive Officer to support the execution of its strategic projects.

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.

Ence and ShareTex begin initial testing of the ATENEA innovation project to promote textile recycling in Spain

Ence and ShareTex are making progress on the Atenea R&D project, which aims to develop a complete value chain for textile recycling in Spain. Specifically, the goal of the ATENEA project—which is funded by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI)—is to connect all the necessary stages for the recovery of textile waste, from collection and management, through recycling and transformation into new raw materials, to their incorporation into new textile products.

DePoly Inaugurates its Showcase Plant in Monthey Switzerland

What if used plastic bottles, PET packaging material and polyester textiles could become raw materials just as high performing as virgin resources? That is the ambition of DePoly, a circular materials company based in Sion, Switzerland which inaugurated its Showcase Plant in Monthey on July 6th & 7th. The first depolymerization facility of its kind and scale in Switzerland, this industrial Showcase Plant represents a major milestone in the company's growth and its journey toward commercialization.

Commission clarifies rules on plastic bottles recycling

The European Commission today adopted new rules on recycling of single-use plastic beverage bottles made primarily of polyethylene terephthalate (PET bottles). These rules establish, for the first time, a methodology to calculate, verify and report chemically recycled content. This is part of the Commission’s December 2025 plastics package.

DyStar releases FY2025 sustainability report, marking a new milestone towards its 2030 targets

DyStar, a leading specialty chemicals company with more than a century of expertise in product development and innovation, today announced the release of its FY2025 Sustainability Report, marking a significant milestone in its sustainability journey and reinforcing its commitment to long-term value creation.

TERIS reaches milestone: Fraunhofer consortium develops new standards for tire analysis

In the “TERIS” project, the Fraunhofer institutes ICT, IGD, and IWM—led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF—have reached a decisive milestone. For the first time, the teams aim to generate, analyse, and predict tire wear in the laboratory in a standardized and practical manner. As part of this milestone, results are now available on reference abrasion, particle analysis, tribological models, AI-based surface analysis, a test bench concept, and methods for accelerated aging and VOC detection. The tire industry, testing services, and environmental agencies will in future benefit from reliable, rapid laboratory procedures for emissions assessment.