THANAPLAST™ successfully completes the second stage of its development

• Validation of the project’s feasibility and launch of its pre-industrial pilot

• Carbios receives € 0.7 million from Bpifrance

Carbios (NYSE Alternext in Paris: ALCRB), an innovative green chemistry company specializing in breakthrough technologies dedicated to the recovery of plastic waste and the production of bio-polymers, announces having received € 0.7 million from Bpifrance for completing the second development stage of its collaborative project, Thanaplast™, spearheaded by Carbios.

The results obtained by the consortium of partners brought together during this stage met the research performance goals set for the bioprocesses developed under the Thanaplast™ project. Carbios received the expected public co-funding intended to help the company initiate the pre-industrial pilot of these bioprocesses.  Notable examples of these bioprocesses include the production of an innovative self-destructible plastic material and a biological recycling process for a first polymer, the polylactic acid (PLA).

“The teams validated the proof of concept in laboratory tests for at least one application for each of our bioprocesses (biodegradation, bio-recycling and bio-production). These results are in line with the objectives initially set by the Thanaplast™ project and we are confident in our ability to get these first applications to the industrialization stage,” explained Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO of Carbios.

The Thanaplast™ Project

To date, Carbios has received € 4.5 million and is slated to collect € 2.3 million from Bpifrance at the completion of future development stages. This expansive project, one of the first to address the recovery of end-of-life plastic waste, brings into collaboration several academic and industrial partners (CNRS, INRA, TWB, Poitiers University, Deinove, Limagrain the Barber Group), with Carbios at the heart of it. With a budget of € 22 million over 5 years, including € 15 million directly raised by Carbios, Thanaplast™ unites more than 60 researchers and is supported by Bpifrance as part of the French Strategic Industrial Innovation (ISI) projects assistance program. Bpifrance’s financial support amounts to € 9.6 million, of which € 6.8 million are directly allocated to Carbios. This project is segmented into five key phases, each corresponding to a successive developmental advancement so to achieve the industrialization stage in 5 years.

“We are pleased with the renewed trust we received from Bpifrance, proof that the Thanaplast™ project is running smoothly. We have been a leader in the field by initiating and consolidating a public/private partnership that brings together the top French talent working on the subject. The major results obtained by the Thanaplast™ project’s consortium validate the potential synergies between the academic and industrial worlds. Carbios also reaffirms the relevance and efficiency of its upstream collaborative research model,” concluded Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO of Carbios.