CARBIOS, TWB Receive 7.5 Million Euros In Funding To Accelerate The Industrialization Of PET Plastics And Fiber Biorecycling

CLERMONT-FERRAND, France — January 17, 2019 — CARBIOS, a company in the field of bioplasturgy, and Toulouse White Biotechnology (TWB) announces today 7.5 million euros of funding from the Investments for the Future Program operated by ADEME to support, over a period of 39 months, the scale-up of the company’s industrial and commercial PET plastics and fibers biorecycling project.

PET is one of the most common polymers on the market. It is used to make everyday consumer goods such as bottles, packaging and fibers especially for clothing. 70 million tons of PET are produced each year from fossil resources1. Since 2012, CARBIOS develops a world pioneering process enabling to produce new virgin plastics from waste plastics according to circular economy principles.

The 7.5 million euros in funding has been granted by the General Secretariat for Investments (SGPI) as part of the Investments for the Future Program operated by ADEME for circular economy projects. This funding, which comes in the form of grants and conditional advances, will be paid in several instalments over the period of this CE-PET project2 and includes a first payment of 15 percent.

CARBIOS, coordinator and lead manager of the project, will oversee the acceleration of the industrialization of its PET plastics and fibers technology, and will be able to receive up to 4.1 million euros.

Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO of CARBIOS commented: “We would like to thank the French environment and energy management agency for its renewed confidence in the innovations developed by CARBIOS. This funding represents an important step that will allow us to accelerate the industrialization of our technology.”

For Pierre Monsan, founder of TWB, said: “We are very proud of the scientific milestones achieved through this collaboration between CARBIOS and TWB. Our partnership has led to the emergence of new sustainable and eco-friendly solutions to the management of plastics lifecycle. This funding highlights the commitment of French public authorities to make possible the industrial development of innovative processes that can become key alternatives to conventional chemistry.”

CARBIOS is a green chemistry company whose innovations provide solutions to the environmental and sustainable development issues that manufacturers currently face. Since its founding in 2011, the company has developed two industrial-scale biological processes for the biological breakdown and recycling of polymers. These unique innovations help optimise the performance and life cycle of plastics and textiles by capitalizing on the properties of specially selected enzymes. CARBIOS’s economic growth model is based on the industrial roll-out and sale of its products, enzymes, technologies and biological processes through direct licence agreements or joint ventures, to major players in the fields to whom they would most benefit. To that end, CARBIOS founded the joint venture CARIOLICE in 2016, in partnership with Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients and the fund SPI, run by Bpifrance. This company, in which CARBIOS holds a controlling share, will market the first technology licensed by CARBIOS by producing enzyme pellets used in the production of biodegradable and bio-sourced plastics. Since its founding, CARBIOS has been backed by Truffle Capital, a European investment capital player. CARBIOS qualifies as an “Innovative Company” according to Bpifrance, which makes the company’s shares eligible for inclusion in innovation-focused mutual funds (FCPIs).

1 Source: IHS Markit IN 2018

2 Circular Economy PET Project

Posted January 18, 2019

Source: CARBIOS

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