Food and beverage companies Nestlé Waters, Pepsi and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe have joined an industrial consortium to fund the development of Carbios’ enzyme technology for plastic recycling.
There is an increasing pressure on companies recently to cut down waste and develop better ways to recycle the plastic they use or produce in order to protect the environment.
Carbios has created a unique and feasible technology using highly specialized enzymes capable of recycling much wider PET plastics and feedstock for polyester fibers than other recycling technologies. This innovative process creates recycled PET, which is equivalent to virgin PET and can be used in applications such as bottles and other packaging forms.
Pepsi, Nestlé Waters, and Suntory are joining the consortium that Carbios launched back in 2017 with the French cosmetics giant L’Oreal. The aim is to commercialize technology that can recycle plastics made from polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which is commonly used to make plastic bottles and food containers.
Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO of Carbios, said “We are thrilled to welcome Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe into the Consortium we have created with L’Oréal. Their contribution will accelerate our common ambition and help to industrialize our recycling technology, which brings a breakthrough solution in the treatment of plastic waste.”
Massimo Casella, Head of R&D Nestlé Waters, added, “the new technology can help us to achieve Nestlé’s goal of increasing the amount of recycled PET content in our bottles without compromising on quality and contribute to creating an environmentally sustainable world for the next generation.”
