Carbios and Indorama Ventures have agreed to produce technical fibers from recycled PET for Michelin tires

The French biotech company Carbios has announced the signing of a multi-year commercial agreement with Indorama Ventures, the world's leading producer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Under the terms of the agreement, Carbios will use its enzymatic recycling technology to produce monomers from complex PET waste at its plant currently under construction in Longlaville, France, and supply them to Indorama, which will repolymerize the raw materials and manufacture technical fibers as reinforcing materials for Michelin tires Michelin.

Construction of the Longlaville plant began in April 2024, and at the time it was reported that the company plans to start supplying significant volumes of products to customers in 2026. A few weeks ago, Carbios announced that it had signed the first contracts for the supply of biorecycled PET from the new plant to two leaders in the cosmetics industry.

"The signing of a commercial agreement with Indorama Ventures marks a new stage in the implementation of our industrial project, and it also confirms that Indorama Ventures and Michelin are confident in the effectiveness of our PET biorecycling technology," said Vincent Kamel, CEO of Carbios. "In combination with the commercial successes already achieved in the field of packaging for cosmetic products, the new agreement demonstrates our ability to offer innovative solutions for the most demanding industries, including the production of technical fibers for tires and, in a broader sense, for the textile industry".

Fabien Gabrio, Michelin's manager responsible for the introduction of renewable and recycled materials, added that "the new partnership clearly demonstrates our commitment to converting complex waste into high-performance materials".

"By incorporating enzymatically recycled PET into the production of our tires, we are taking another step towards achieving our goal of transitioning to 100% renewable and recycled raw materials by 2050," he said. "By combining innovation, advanced expertise and close collaboration with reliable partners, we are creating an efficient and sustainable business model for a closed-loop economy".

Michelin has been cooperating with Indorama Ventures for a long time, developing new environmentally friendly solutions for its industry. According to Renato Boaventura, head of the technology department for the mobility sector at Indorama Ventures, the new alliance "emphasizes our commitment to long-term planning and making a significant contribution to the creation of a circular economy".