Carbios and Indorama Ventures to Construct the World's First PET Biorecycling Plant

France: A non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by the biotech company Carbios and the chemical behemoth Indorama Ventures, based in Bangkok, to form a joint venture for the construction of the first PET biorecycling facility in France using Carbios' enzymatic depolymerization technology.  The method makes it possible to recycle PET plastic and textile waste into goods that are effective and solvent-free as new. For more than a year, Carbios and Indorama Ventures have collaborated to evaluate the technology's technical and commercial viability.

Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of Carbios, views the announcement as a significant milestone in their partnership with Indorama Ventures, representing a major stride towards achieving their shared goal of establishing the world's first PET biorecycling plant. In accordance with the MOU, Indorama Ventures will mobilise approximately 110 million euros (or approximately $118 million) in equity and nonconvertible loan financing for the joint venture, subject to the completion of all engineering documentation and economic feasibility studies.

The businesses declared their intention to complete the contract documentation by the end of 2023 and their mutual support for the effort. The new biorecycling plant will be built on 13 acres of property that Carbios would purchase from Indorama Ventures' current PET plant under the terms of the agreement. Carbios applied for plant permissions in December 2022 and anticipates receiving the necessary licences by Q3 2023. As a result, work might begin on the project by the end of 2023, with completion set for 2025.

Indorama Ventures will oversee repolymerizing all the PET recycling facility's output. Both parties will work together to ensure the supply of feedstock. About 50,000 tonnes of post-consumer PET waste, or 2 billion PET coloured bottles or 2.5 billion PET trays, can be processed annually at the Longlaville factory. Future expansion of the plant's capacity is possible on the land on which it is planned to be built.

Indorama Ventures has also said it might take the technology to other PET sites for future projects if this initial facility in France is successful.

The undertaking is a component of Indorama Ventures' Vision 2030 sustainability goals, which also involve investing $1.5 billion to boost the company's capacity for PET bottle recycling to 50 billion PET bottles annually by 2025 and 100 billion bottles annually by 2030. Indorama Ventures is funding innovative mechanical and chemical recycling solutions to achieve these objectives.

The fruitful outcomes of teams' preliminary investigations into the technical soundness of Carbios' technology have given us hope. We are sure that this innovative breakthrough will be a great addition to the available circular economy options for PET plastics and fibres.

Given the recent impact of inflation, the total capital investment for the new plant is now anticipated to be over €230 million. The funds raised by Indorama Ventures, the grants offered by the French State and Grand-Est Region, and the equity investment made by Carbios in the joint venture will cover the costs of the project. A portion of Carbios' present cash position—$86 million as of 30 April 2023—will be used to finance the equity investment into the joint venture. Carbios is actively considering the best ways to fund its final equity contribution to the joint venture and will make the best decision and pick the optimum time frame based on market circumstances.