Tuesday 30 April 2019

Drinks firms join Carbios consortium to digest plastic waste with enzymes

Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe have joined a consortium to recycle plastic waste using enzymes.

The consortium was founded by beauty firm L’Oréal and Carbios, the latter of which has developed a bio-industrial technology to degrade PET plastics and polyester fibres.

The process breaks down rubbish such as plastic bottles into its original 'building blocks', which can be used to produce high-quality PET plastic and enables repeated recycling - it requires limited heat and no pressure or solvents, which improves its environmental impact.

Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe have signed a four-year agreement to bring the technology to market on an industrial scale and increase the availability of high-quality recycled plastics to fulfill their own sustainability commitments.

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 industrialise our recycling technology, which brings a breakthrough solution in the treatment of plastic waste."