Novozymes links up with Carbios to develop plastic-degrading enzyme technology.

This major agreement with Novozymes secures our long-term supply of enzymes to move from traditional manufacturing to sustainable solutions that meet strong market demand.

Danish enzyme manufacturer Novozymes has teamed up with Frenchgreen chemistry specialist Carbios to commercialise biodegradable plastics. Novozymes will produce Carbios plastic-degrading enzyme technology for Carbios subsidiary company Carbiolice. Carbiolice will embed these enzymes into single-use plastics, such as plastic bags, to help them biodegrade and tackle the issue of plastic pollution.

This collaboration is a world premiere in the field of bio-plasturgy that aims to act as a catalyst by making single-use plastics environmentally-friendly and cost competitive, Carbios said in a statement.

Carbiolice is expected to unveil this solution by 2020. Once the product is launched, Carbiolice will pay royalties to Carbios (@carbios_ipo).

Jens Kolind, VP of Technical Industries at Novozymes (@Novozymes), said the company was looking forward to being part of this joint collaboration where it worked together on finding biological solutions to answer one of the biggest challenges of our time.

Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO at Carbios, added: The market of single-use plastics raises major environmental concerns and our sustainable and inventive approach is now opening huge opportunities to fulfil industrial and consumer demand while fighting the threat of plastic pollution.

We are proud of this partnership with the world leading enzymes producer Novozymes, that gives us the strength to launch at large-scale the most advanced eco-friendly solution for the biodegradation of plastics.

Nadia Auclair, CEO of Carbiolice, explained: This major agreement with Novozymes secures our long-term supply of enzymes to move from traditional manufacturing to sustainable solutions that meet strong market demand. Today, we are proud to make of our solution, an industrial and commercial reality.

Since its founding in 2011, Carbios has developed two industrial-scale biological processes for the biological breakdown and recycling of polymers. According to Carbios, its unique innovations are helping to optimise the performance and lifecycle of plastics and textiles by capitalising on the properties of specially selected enzymes.

Carbios said that its economic growth model is based on the industrial roll-out and sale of its products, enzymes, technologies and biological processes through direct licence agreements or joint ventures, to major players in the fields to whom they would most benefit.

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