Carbios Expands Fibre-to-Fibre Recycling Technology to Textile Industry
Biotechnology company Carbios has expanded its licensing portfolio to include the textile sector, introducing its fibre-to-fibre recycling technology for polyester-based textile waste. The announcement follows the successful completion of 100 production batches at the company’s industrial demonstration plant in Clermont-Ferrand, validating its enzymatic biorecycling process for complex PET waste.
Since 2025, Carbios has been applying its proprietary technology to post-consumer textile waste rich in polyester (PET) fibres. Industrial-scale trials have achieved a conversion rate of more than 95% within 24 hours, producing virgin-equivalent PET monomers suitable for manufacturing high-quality recycled products, including packaging applications.
The company said the validation of its fibre-to-fibre recycling process marks a significant milestone in expanding the commercial application of its technology beyond PET packaging and into the global textile industry.
By extending its licensing offering to fashion and textiles, Carbios aims to diversify its customer base and support the industry’s transition toward a circular economy. The company is already collaborating with leading global brands, including On, Patagonia, Puma, PVH Corp, and Salomon, to accelerate the development of circular textile solutions.
Benoît Grenot, Chief Executive Officer of Carbios, said reaching the 100-batch milestone demonstrates the robustness and industrial maturity of the company’s recycling technology.
“Having successfully demonstrated our ability to recycle PET packaging waste and deploy the technology under licence, we have now validated its application for complex textile waste. This achievement enables us to expand our licensing offering to the global textile market and meet the growing demand for industrial-scale circular recycling solutions,” Grenot said.
Carbios estimates that global PET consumption in textile applications stands at approximately 67 million tonnes annually, highlighting the significant opportunity for fibre-to-fibre recycling technologies.
The company continues to advance plans for its first commercial-scale recycling facility in Meurthe-et-Moselle, France, with commissioning now scheduled for the first half of 2028. Once operational, the facility is expected to recycle the equivalent of 300 million T-shirts or two billion coloured PET bottles annually, producing virgin-quality recycled raw materials.
The expansion reinforces Carbios’ strategy to commercialize enzymatic recycling technology and support the fashion industry’s shift toward sustainable, closed-loop textile production.