Carbios and Zhink Group to build PET bio recycling plant in China

03 Jul 2024 --- Carbios, an innovator in bio-based circular technologies, and Zhink Group, specializing in PET and textiles, are building a bio recycling plant in China, harnessing Carbios’ enzymatic depolymerization technology to serve the global market.

The companies signed a joint Letter of Intent aiming at a long-term partnership to build a plant with a minimum annual processing capacity of 50,000 tons of prepared PET waste and accelerating a circular economy for plastic and textiles. 

China is the leading producer of PET globally, with 67 million tons produced annually, representing 61% of global production. This makes it a key market for Carbios. 

“There is great momentum in China to accelerate the circular economy and meet its target of carbon neutrality by 2060,” says Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of Carbios. 

“The technology developed by Carbios makes perfect sense in this context: capable of recycling all types of PET waste, it promotes a circular economy with high-quality products and significantly reduces the carbon footprint of industries,” he notes. 

“As a leader in PET production, Zhink is considered a key partner for introducing our technology into China and will stimulate our international deployment.”

PET to fiber focus 
With regional and global demand for recycled PET growing, China also has the potential to take the lead in recycled PET (rPET) production. In 2021, 58% of the world’s rPET was consumed in Asia (with 38% in China) underscoring this region’s importance as a producer and consumer.

Furthermore, China is a key transformer of PET into resins and fibers suitable for various applications in the packaging and textile industries. Most notably, China is the main country to transform PET into fiber, representing 78% of all PET fiber transformation in the world.

“For Zhink, the strategic focus is on the development of two global industries, PET and textiles, and to be a leader in the industry with sustainable competitiveness. We are actively promoting our subsidiaries to develop our PET recycling portfolio and are very interested in Carbios’ revolutionary bio recycling technology to reduce carbon emissions,” says Zhu Guoyang, president at Zhink Group.

Tina Sejersgård Fanø, executive vice president for Planetary Health Biosolutions at Novonesis, adds: “With a 20-year presence in China and a solid R&D and manufacturing footprint in the region, Novonesis is keen to share its local know-how for the successful implementation of Carbios.” 

“Novonesis has a strong long-term partnership with Carbios and an exclusive one for the production of its patented enzymes for PET bio recycling plants under license. We are ready to meet Carbios’ needs for future licensing projects in the region and beyond.” 

Strategic partnership for Zhink and Carbios
Zhink is a major actor within the PET market with an annual production of 3 million tons of PET, serving domestic and global markets. 

Carbios has developed a revolutionary enzymatic depolymerization technology that enables efficient and solvent-free recycling of PET plastic and textile waste into virgin-like products.

The initial agreement between the two groups would allow Zhink to increase its recycled PET capacities and meet its sustainable competitiveness objectives by offering rPET from enzymatic recycling: a circular recycling solution that can process all types of PET waste, including hard-to-recycle waste (such as opaque and colored bottles, multilayer food trays and textile waste) while reducing CO2 emissions by 57% compared with virgin PET production. 

For Carbios, the agreement marks a significant step in the deployment of its technology worldwide and roll-out of its licensing model to achieve its ambition to become a leading technology provider in the recycling of PET by 2035.

The recycling plant would come in addition to the “world’s first” industrial-scale enzymatic PET recycling plant, which is currently under construction in Longlaville, France.

Carbios has begun official discussions with Zhink for a licensing agreement.