Carbios enters r-PET filament market for tyres

Carbios has signed a multi-year commercial agreement with Indorama Ventures, the global leader in PET production.

It covers the supply of biorecycled monomers from the Carbios enzymatic PET recycling plant in Longlaville, France, which will be transformed into r-PET filaments by Indorama Ventures and then integrated by Michelin Group into its tyres.

This commercial agreement is part of the pre-commercialisation momentum of the future Carbios industrial site, just weeks after signing the first sales contracts for biorecycled PET with two global cosmetics leaders.

“This commercial agreement with Indorama Ventures marks a new step in the realisation of our industrial project,” said Vincent Kamel, CEO of Carbios. “It confirms the trust of Indorama Ventures and Michelin in our PET biorecycling technology. Alongside the commercial successes already achieved in cosmetic packaging applications, this agreement illustrates our ability to deliver new solutions to the most demanding industries, particularly industrial filaments for tyre applications and, more broadly, textiles.

“By integrating enzymatically recycled r-PET into our tyres, we are marking a new milestone on our journey towards achieving 100% renewable and recycled materials by 2050,” added Fabien Gaboriaud, director of circularity and renewable and recycled materials at Michelin Group.”

Carbios, a B Corp company, develops enzyme-based processes to break down plastic and its two disruptive technologies for the biorecycling of PET and the biodegradation of PLA are reaching industrial and commercial scale. Its biorecycling demonstration plant has been operational since 2021 and construction work of the world’s first industrial biorecycling plant is expected to restart between June and September 2025, subject to the necessary additional funding. Carbios is supported by prestigious brands in the cosmetics, food and beverage and apparel industries. On, Patagonia, Puma, PVH Corp. and Salomon collaborate with Carbios in a textile consortium.