Carbios secures funding to build textile recycling plant in Longlaville

Carbios, the French specialist in the enzymatic recycling of plastics and synthetic fibers, has confirmed a cash position of €72 million, solidifying plans to begin construction of its first industrial plant by the end of the year. The Longlaville-based facility, located in the Lorraine region, had previously been delayed.

The project is being financed through a combination of internal funds and €42.5 million in contributions from ADEME (France’s energy transition agency) and the regional authority. Despite facing a challenging start to the year, including a redundancy plan, the company states that it is continuing to secure raw material supplies and has already begun pre-selling its upcoming production. A favorable regulatory climate further supports this progress.

“The publication on 7 September 2025 of the decree concerning the bonus for the incorporation of recycled material constitutes a powerful new lever to accelerate adoption of Carbios technology by customers, enabling them to benefit from an incentive of €1,000 per tonne for the incorporation of bio-recycled plastics derived from hard-to-recycle waste,” the company stated.

Carbios also notes that it continues to license its proprietary technology. Agreements for future deployments have already been signed with manufacturers in China, Turkey and the UK.

“Our control of spending and our cash position enable us to move forward with confidence,” said managing director Vincent Kamel. “Recent favorable developments, both on the regulatory front and in our discussions with financial and industrial partners, reinforce our trajectory. We are approaching this phase with determination and confidence, buoyed by our customers’ recognition of our technology, the solidity of our model, and the commitment of our teams.”

The future Longlaville plant will mark a key milestone for Carbios as it brings its PET (polyethylene terephthalate) enzymatic depolymerization process to an industrial scale. Once operational, the site will be capable of transforming the equivalent of 300 million T-shirts, made of at least 90% synthetic materials, or two billion colored bottles into virgin-quality PET.

Earlier this year, Carbios signed a commercial agreement to supply L’Oréal and L’Occitane en Provence with recycled plastics for use in bottles and packaging.