Blow Moulding First PET
Blow Moulding First PET bottles from enzymatically recycled textile waste In late November last year Carbios (Clermont-Ferrand, France), announced it has successfully produced the first bottles containing 100 % recycled Purified Terephthalic Acid (rPTA) from textile waste that contains a high PET content. This result confirms the capacity of Carbios’ technology to recycle textile waste and opens up access to an additional waste stream of up to 42 million tonnes per year, worth over USD 40 billion. In more recent news Carbios announced that a non-exclusive and non-binding Expression Of Intent (EOI) agreement was signed with a significant PET producer. It would have been the second EOI, however, a previous EOI with Equipolymer announced in early April had already been terminated again. Nevertheless, Carbios confirmed its plan to build a first-of-akind 100 % PET recycling production unit using its enzymatic technology. The company will carry out ongoing studies to select the most suitable site, technically and economically, to build this first industrial and commercial unit. Within this agreement, Carbios and the PET producer are considering the opportunity to build the unit on one of the PET producer’s sites. Carbios’ first industrial unit is expected to allow for an annual production of approximately 40,000 tonnes of recycled PET, with the first revenues to be generated in 2025. The unit will be financed by the EUR 114 million capital increase Carbios gained earlier in May. Enzymatic recycling could form an important link for future circular economy concepts, as mechanical recycling technologies, which are currently the most common, have limitation. For one mechanical recycling of e.g., PET bottle can only be done a certain number of times before the material quality deteriorates too much for the application and it is no viable solution for textile waste. The few textiles that can be reused, are incorporated into lower-quality applications such as padding, insulators or rags. For a truly circular economy, such downcycling should be one of the last solutions, not the first. In contrast, the breakthrough developed by Carbios enables polyester textile fibres to be upcycled into a high-quality grade of PET suitable for the production of clear bottles. “I am very proud that we successfully transformed polyester textile waste into clear bottles, which have identical properties as those made from virgin PET. This major innovation allows us to expand our sources of supply which, until now, consisted primarily of PET plastic waste,” said Alain Marty, Chief Scientific Officer of Carbios. Carbios has also succeeded in producing PET fibres for textile applications with 100 % rPTA, from enzymatically recycled PET plastic waste. “This result demonstrates the extent of our technology’s possibilities: We can now produce transparent bottles from polyester textile waste or from post-consumer coloured bottles. This works both ways – so we can also make a T-shirt from bottles or disposable food trays,” said Marty. Carbios’ process enables low-value waste to be recovered and to have a new life in more challenging applications – in short, it facilitates infinite recycling of PET-based plastics and textiles. In a recent interview Martin Stephan, the Deputy CEO of Carbios, commented on the current environmental challenges the world is facing, saying that the problem is not plastics per se, it’s plastic waste. Carbios strategy to battle that is by making plastic waste a valuable commodity. Or how Stephan phrased it, “waste is the new oil”. AT See article on p. 9 https://carbios.fr/en Generic photographs, just for illustration 40 bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/21] Vol. 16
The world’s first HDPE Milk Bottles from advanced recycling INEOS O&P EUROPE (headquartered in Knightsbridge, London, UK) is making a significant investment to develop a comprehensive portfolio of circular solutions for the packaging industry. The collaboration with LACTEL (Choisy-le-Roi, France) is yet another major milestone in this direction. Advanced recycling technology converts plastic waste back to its basic molecules which are then used in Ineos production sites to include recycled content and replace traditional fossil-based raw materials. Lactel is the first dairy brand, in collaboration with INEOS, to explore a solution for UHT milk bottles produced with circular polyethylene, derived from post-consumer recycled material. “This trial production of 140,000 milk bottles, based on HDPE from advanced recycling technology, is a world first and a major step forward for Lactel, towards a circular economy”. “This new innovative product will be used in the Montauban production plant for an initial production run. At Lactel we are extremely excited to bring this new environmental innovation to our iconic milk bottles,” explains Anne Charles-Pinault - Lactel France General Manager. “Ineos is very pleased to (advance) this partnership with Lactel. Both companies are committed to sustainability and, via advanced recycling, we are able to supply virgin quality polymer from recycled plastic that is ideal for even the most demanding food contact applications like milk. Another big step in the right direction.” – said Xavi Cros – CEO Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe/South. After an independent certification process, initiated several months ago, Lactel’s Montauban plant has been successfully RSB (The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials) certified this April. The milk bottles produced in this way are compliant with food safety regulations and are fully recyclable. MT generic picture www.ineos.com www.lactalis-international.com Blow Moulding Leading Event on Carbon Capture & Utilisation Learn about the entire CCU value chain: • Carbon Capture Technologies and Direct Air Capture • CO2 for Chemicals, Proteins and Gases • Advanced CCU Technologies, Artificial Photosynthesis • Fuels for Transport and Aviation • Green Hydrogen Production • Mineralisation • Power-to-X 1 Best CO2 Utilisation 2023 O R G A N I S E R N OVA -I N S TIT U T E I N N OVAT I O N AWA R D Call for Innovation Apply for the Innovation Award “Best CO2 Utilisation 2023” Organiser Contact Dominik Vogt Conference Manager dominik.vogt@nova-institut.de co2-chemistry.eu bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/21] Vol. 16 41
