Carbios has obtained building permits and operating authorisation for a PET biorecycling plant, allowing construction to start.
The plant will be built in Longlaville (54) in the Grand-Est Region on a 13.7-hectare site adjacent to the existing PET production plant of Indorama Ventures, its strategic partner. The total investment in the site is estimated to be around €230m.
The facility, scheduled for commission in 2025, aims to provide an industrial-scale enzymatic recycling solution for PET waste. Optimisations are currently underway to further increase the recycling of water required for the process.
The plant will have a processing capacity of 50,000t of post-consumer PET waste per year (mostly waste that is non-recyclable mechanically and that is equivalent to 2bn coloured PET bottles or 2.5bn PET food trays) and will generate 150 direct and indirect jobs in the region.
Located near the borders with Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg, the plant's location is strategic for nearby waste supply.
Carbios and Indorama Ventures will collaborate on the feedstock supply of the plant, located in a geographical area where the supply potential could reach 400,000t in 2023 and up to 500,000 tons in 2030 with improved selective collection.
Of the €230m ($242.9m) investment, Carbios’ capital increase contributed approximately €141m and Indorama Ventures plans to mobilise approximately €110m, alongside French state subsidies of €30m, €12.5m from the Grand-Est Region and a portion of Carbios Group's available cash, which amounted to €78m as of 30 June 2023.
Carbios CEO Emmanuel Ladent commented: “We are eager to deliver a facility of great local and international significance for a circular economy of plastic.”
