Recycle complex PET waste
Produce high-quality recycled PET
Prove environmental & economic performance
Prepare industrial deployment
Today’s recycling is not enough to achieve true circularity.
Globally, polyethylene terephthalate production from fossil resources accounts for nearly 100 million tonnes per year and is omnipresent in our daily lives: beverage bottles, food trays, cosmetic packaging, automotive applications and above all clothing.
In 2024, Europe’s plastic production represents 12% of the global production. In Europe, 9.5% of the plastics produced is from mechanical recycling*. PET accounts for 5% of the European plastics production, representing approximately 3 Mt yearly.
*https://plasticseurope.org/knowledge-hub/plastics-the-fast-facts-2025/
Europe’s environmental ambitions (climate neutrality, reduction of fossil dependency, and a truly circular economy) cannot be met with today’s recycling technologies alone.
Mechanical recycling mainly:
As a result, large volumes of waste remain under‑recycled or downcycled.
While Europe pushes forward with ambitious circularity and climate targets, incremental improvements will not be enough. Achieving true PET circularity requires breakthrough solutions capable of maintaining material quality across multiple cycles and addressing the waste streams mechanical recycling cannot manage.
In this context, innovation is no longer optional but essential. Moving beyond the limits of conventional recycling is a key lever to preserve resources, reduce environmental impacts, and build a resilient, scalable circular PET economy.
Our process can depolymerize even the
most challenging PET waste mixed, colored,
or contaminated back into its original monomers.
Waste preparation
01PET waste (bottles, trays, textiles, etc.) is shredded, melted, and then transformed into expanded granules to maximize the surface area in contact with the enzyme.
Enzymatic depolymerization
02The expanded flakes are placed in a reactor with water and our patented enzyme, which depolymerizes PET — even colored, complex or soiled — in less than 24 hours.
Filtration
03The resulting solution is filtered to remove solid residues and then passed through a bed of activated carbon to retain micropollutants (dyes, etc.).
Monomers purification and separation
04
The two monomers are isolated,
with a purity greater than 99.5% :
-Terephthalic acid (r-PTA) (solid)
-Monoethylene glycol (r-MEG) (liquid)
With LIFE support, Carbios strengthened the role of its industrial demonstration plant as a bridge from R&D to industrial deployment, with a focus on textile preparation and validation.
Industrial
Demonstration plant operational
Scale-up validated
Production of rPET granulates from complex packaging and textile waste
Environmental
Less landfill & incineration
Lower CO₂ emissions
Reduced fossil dependency
Market
Licensing model ready for replication
Technology ready for industrial deployment
The demonstration plant provides pre-industrial validation, generates real operating data, and is designed as a replicable and modular model, acting as a critical bridge between laboratory innovation and full industrial deployment.
Name
LIFE CYCLE OF PET, Towards a true circular economy of PET plastic and textiles thanks to enzymatic recycling of waste
Duration
October 2021 – March 2026
Budget
€9M budget (€3.3M EU funding)
Number
LIFE20 ENV/FR/000596
“This project proves that enzymatic recycling can operate at industrial scale with the reliability and performance expected by the industry. It marks a key step toward integrating this technology into existing production ecosystems, both on packaging and textile feedstocks.”
Chief Technology and Industrialization Officer at Carbios
“Market demand for high-quality recycled PET is accelerating, and this project demonstrates our ability to meet it with a competitive, scalable solution. It strengthens our position to convert strong interest into concrete commercial partnerships”
Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Carbios
“Within the scope of the study, environmental assessments indicate that enzymatic recycling can support circular economy objectives. The LIFE project also supported the exploration of life cycle assessment methodologies for recycling technologies.”
“Building on its long standing expertise in PET polymerisation technologies and industrial process engineering, T.EN Zimmer GmbH delivers proven polymerisation industrial solutions and provides an R&D platform to develop, adapt and up-scale circular PET processes across the entire value chain.”
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
