Biodegradable Plastic Pilot Plant Online

Carbios’ biodegradable plastics pilot plan is now online in France.

Carbios’ new production platform incorporates the biochemistry company’s enzyme-based technology and enables the pilot-scale reproduction, with a capacity of 40 kilograms per hour, of all steps required to produce plastic film.

The biodegradable plastic pilot plant, located at Carbios’ headquarters in Saint-Beauzire, Auvergne, in central France, encompasses several production modules, from the extrusion of the plastic materials to their transformation into flexible film, as well as the characterization of all properties of the materials produced.

Carbios says the plastics pilot plant gives it the ability to demonstrate the performance of its biodegradation technology for the first applications (such as plastic films, mulching films for agriculture, and plastic bags) at the pre-industrial stage. The company plans to initiate the first industrial and commercial demonstrations in the near future.

Last year, Carbios depolymerized 90 percent of polylactic acid (PLA) material — a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources — in only 48 hours, using its enzymatic process.