New Nature publication confirms CARBIOS’ leadership in enzymatic degradation of plastic

17 Jul 2024 18:00 CEST

·       CARBIOS and Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI) publish groundbreaking article that presents enzyme optimization work leading to an enzyme-embedded PLA able to disintegrate and biodegrade in home-compost conditions faster than certification timeframe requirements

·       This new publication in Nature, widely regarded as the most influential scientific journal, comes in addition to the 2020 publication on enzymatic depolymerization of PET, confirming CARBIOS’ leadership in enzymatic engineering

·       CARBIOS Active is the result of the unique know-how developed by CARBIOS' R&D teams by exploiting the properties of the highly specific enzyme to improve the biodegradation performance and lifecycle of PLA products

Clermont-Ferrand (France), Wednesday 17 July 2024 (6pm CEST). CARBIOS, (Euronext Growth Paris : ALCRB), a pioneer in the development and industrialization of biological technologies to reinvent the life cycle of plastic and textiles, announces the publication of a new article entitled “An engineered enzyme embedded into PLA[1] to make self-biodegradable plastic” in Nature, widely regarded as the most influential scientific journal, and co-authored with its longstanding collaborator, the Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI)[2].  Enzyme-embedded PLA plastic can fully and rapidly degrade in home-compost or methanization conditions.  The article describes the optimization process used to achieve an engineered enzyme able to withstand the 170°C[3] temperature required to introduce it in molten state PLA during the plastic production process.  The new enzyme-embedded material is proven to fully distintegrate and biodegrade at a much faster rate than the 26-week home-compost certification requirement and is also shown to help produce more biomethane, another source of waste recovery.  Moreover, the material remains intact over long-term storage, the enzyme only being activated under composting or methanization conditions, ensuring compatibility with commercial PLA-based applications, for example, flexible packaging (such as sauce packets and wrappers) and short-life items (such as food containers, yogurt pots and coffee capsules). 
 

CARBIOS Active: CARBIOS’ commercial biodegradation solution is the direct result of the unique know-how developed by its enzymology experts

CARBIOS’ expertise in enzyme optimization contributed to the development of CARBIOS Active’s formula and industrial process. Integrated directly into the plastic material transformation process without any modification to production lines, the encapsulated enzyme CARBIOS Active enables the creation of a new generation of PLA products that are 100% compostable at ambient temperature, while ensuring quality compost, free from toxicity and microplastics. CARBIOS Active therefore opens up new biodegradation possibilites for PLA at ambient temperatures, including domestic composting conditions. A production line is already up and running at CARBIOS headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France, which can produce 2,500 tons/year of CARBIOS Active (required for the equivalent of 50,000 tons/year of enzyme-embedded PLA).

The article is co-authored by biotechnology researchers from CARBIOS and its academic partner Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI), as well as two eminent professors from University of Mons (Belgium) and Kasetsart University of Bangkok (Thailand). Once again, this collaboration demonstrates CARBIOS' ambition and ability to rally partners together in an efficient ecosystem to bring a collective solution to a major environmental challenge.

To read the Nature article online, click here:  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07709-1

Publication has been scheduled in the 25 July 2024 issue of Nature.

Authors:

-          CARBIOS : Marie Guicherd, Marc Guéroult, Madiha Dalibey, Florent Grimaud, Sabine Gavalda, Marion Noël, Vincent Tournier, Alain Marty

-          Toulouse Biotechnology Institute : Maher Ben Khaled, Julian Nomme, Pablo Alvarez, Emma Kamionka, Marlène Vuillemin, Emilie Amillastre, Delphine Labourdette, Gianluca Cioci, Isabelle André, Sophie Duquesne

-          University of Mons Belgium: Philippe Dubois

-          Kasetstart University of Bangkok Thailand: Vichien Kitpreechavanich

[1] polyactic acid, a biosourced plastic

[2] Toulouse Biotechnology Institute, Bio & Chemical Engineering, joint research unit associating INSA of Toulouse, CNRS and INRAE

[3] 170°C = 338°F