It’s a world first and it’s happening in France! In Meurthe-et-Moselle (Grand Est region), in Longlaville, to be precise. This site was chosen as home to the world’s first factory dedicated to recycling PET plastic waste, all thanks to enzymes, as reported the echoes†
The project, led by the company Carbios, costs 150 million euros and makes it possible to recycle 50,000 tons of plastic waste per year from 2025, but also to create 150 jobs, of which 70 direct jobs. “We are going to build our reference unit in Longlaville, in Meurthe-et-Moselle, on the Indorama site, the world’s largest producer of PET resin, which will use recycled material”said Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of Carbios.
Specifically, Carbios’ enzymes will be responsible for breaking down plastic waste so that Indorama can “repolymerize” it into polyester fibers to manufacture food packaging.