Milestone Achieved In Controlled Biodegradation Process for Disposable Soft Plastics
Carbios, an innovative green chemistry company out of France specializing in breakthrough technologies dedicated to the recovery of plastic waste and the production of bio-polymers, has taken a significant step forward in the development of its controlled biodegradation process for disposable soft plastics.
With its innovative process, Carbios says they have obtained completely biodegradable plastic material in domestic conditions. This plastic material, issued from an oil-based polymer and an enzyme, has a controlled kinetic that loses 50 percent of its mass in 15 days and completely biodegrades in less than three months. Carbios says this result reinforces the viability of their technology as an effective industrial answer to address the challenges in controlling the end-of-life of disposable and short-life plastics.
With the support of its long-time partner and co-owner VALAGRO, along with the CNRS (the French National Centre for Scientific Research), Carbios recently acquired the exclusive worldwide license for the patent: “Method for preparing a polymer/biological entities blend”.
The company says they will draw on this success and continue to develop their controlled biodegradation process for disposable soft plastics. At the end of 2013, Carbios managed to preserve catalytic activity of enzymes after adding them to plastic material and exposing them to temperatures as high as 338-degrees F.
Carbios says their latest success will allow them to consider commercial applications on a global scale for this material, including in the agricultural sector, particularly for mulching films, and in the packaging industry, especially for disposable food. Currently, Carbios is also supporting a Biodiversity Bill under review in the French Parliament which would ban non-biodegradable, single-use plastic bags from supermarkets, beginning January, 2016.
