France: The EIB, with the support of the European Commission, is financing a €30m loan for Carbios’ enzymatic recycling technology to support the circular economy

• EIB loan funding will provide significant support to the ongoing industrialization of Carbios disruptive technology, C-ZYME ™
• The investment of the EIB supports high-potential innovative projects aiming to achieve transformative changes aligned with the EU Climate objectives
• An EIB investment supported by the InnovFin Energy Demonstration Projects (EDP) facility in line with the EU’s “Circular Economy” Action Plan.
• Carbios expects the disbursement of the €30 million EIB loan in one single tranche during the first quarter of 2022

Carbios (Euronext Growth Paris: ALCRB), a pioneer in the development of enzymatic solutions dedicated to the end-of-life of plastic and textile polymers and the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced today the signing of a €30 million loan agreement supported by the European Commission InnovFin Energy Demonstration Programme.

The aim of this type of financing is to support high potential innovative projects developed by companies aiming to achieve transformative changes aligned with the EU Climate goals and contribute to the EU industry’s leadership in the development of sustainable technologies. Carbios fully meets these criteria with its world’s first enzyme-based processes, which have the potential to contribute to the plastic’s industry sustainability.

In this context, and after a thorough analysis of Carbios’ business model and the due-diligence led by the EIB over the past year, this loan has been granted to support the strategic industrial and commercial development of Carbios technology of PET[1] enzymatic recycling aiming at transforming post-consumer PET plastic and polyester fibers to their original building blocks (monomers) through a biological enzymatic depolymerization process.

The EIB loan contract announced today reflects Carbios potential to address the growing concern of plastics pollution through the development of its enzymatic recycling process, a disruptive technology that could accelerate the transition to a plastics Circular Economy. Unlike conventional recycling processes, Carbios technology converts PET plastic (the dominant polymer in bottles, trays and textiles made of polyester) into its core monomers, which can then be used for feedstock as new 100% recycled PET suitable for all original applications. At industrial scale, Carbios proprietary technology would allow PET plastic producers to replace petrochemicals with monomers from PET plastic waste, resulting in 100% recycled PET content in new products.

This €30 million loan, disbursed in one single tranche by the EIB, carries a fixed semi-annual interest of 5%, with a maturity of 8 years. This agreement is supplemented by a warrants’ issuance agreement where Carbios will issue 2.5% of the fully diluted share capital in warrants to the benefit of the EIB, of which 1.25% with an exercise price of EUR 40 per share, and 1.25% with an exercise price of EUR 38.8861 per share, corresponding to the volume-weighted average of the trading price of an ordinary Share of the Company over the last three (3) Trading Days preceding the date which is five (5) days prior to the Signing Date. The creation and issuance of these EIB warrants, and therefore the disbursement of the €30 million loan, are subject to the vote by an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting of Carbios to be held in the first quarter of 2022 of a delegation of authority to the board of directors and to a decision of the board of directors of the Company using such delegation of authority.

“We are very pleased with this agreement signed with the European Investment Bank and I would like to thank all the stakeholders who contributed to its realization. The EIB facility is highly valuable to the Company as we are moving forward to the industrialization and licensing of our recycling technology, C-ZYME™. Our industrial demonstration plant entered operations in September 2021 and this financing will contribute to confirm the process's scale-up and the gradual transformation of Carbios into a leading industrial and commercial player helping both brands and plastics producers to shift from a plastic waste problem to a carbon footprint reducing solution,” comments Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of Carbios.

Mariya Gabriel, European Commissionner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said :  “Around 26 million tonnes of plastics waste are generated in Europe each year, of which only a fraction is currently recycled. By supporting this project we intend to contribute to plastics’ industry circularity, as well as sustainability. Once again, research and innovation are proving essential to advance on our quest for an economy that respects the planet.”

Ambroise Fayolle, EIB Vice-President, added: “With a shared vision, the EIB and Carbios today join forces by combining economic efficiency with environmental performance to deliver transformative changes in the Plastics Circular Economy. We have the duty to promote new sustainable solutions and take ambitious actions to preserve our ecosystems and fight climate change. We are convinced that Carbios’ project is best positioned to move the entire plastic value chain in the right direction and materially allow for increased and more efficient plastic recycling.”

Background information

About the EIB

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term financing institution of the European Union (EU), and its shareholders are the 27 EU Member States. The EIB’s remit is to contribute towards the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States. It borrows large volumes of funds on the capital markets and lends them on very favourable terms to support projects that contribute to attaining the European Union’s objectives.

The EIB is working to ensure the EU is on the cutting edge of the next wave of innovation. As the EU climate bank, it aims to encourage the emergence and deployment of new technologies to meet ongoing challenges such as the energy transition to a new green growth model and to help European innovators become world leaders in their areas of activity. 

The EIB is one of the world's leading climate action lenders. Of the over €10 billion invested by the EIB in France in 2020 (France was the second-largest beneficiary of financing after Italy), 48% went to projects combating or mitigating climate change.

About InnovFin Energy Demonstration Projects

This facility provides loans, loan guarantees or equity-type financing to innovative demonstration projects to accelerate the energy transition. The financing ranges from €7.5 million to €75 million and supports, amongst others, renewable enerfy technologies, smart energy systems, energy storage, carbon capture and storage, carbon capture and use, as well as a circular economy. It helps the projects to bridge the gap between demonstration and commercialisation to overcome market failures.

About Carbios

Carbios, a green chemistry company, develops biological and innovative processes representing a major innovation in the end of life of plastics and textiles. Through its unique approach of combining enzymes and plastics, Carbios aims to address new consumer expectations and the challenges of a broader ecological transition by taking up a major challenge of our time: plastic and textile pollution.

Established in 2011 by Truffle Capital, the mission of Carbios is to provide an industrial solution to the recycling of PET plastics and textiles (the dominant polymer in bottles, trays, textiles made of polyester). The enzymatic recycling technology developed by Carbios deconstructs any type of PET plastic waste into its basic components which can then be reused to produce new PET plastics of a quality equivalent to virgin ones. This PET innovation, the first of its kind in the world, was recently recognized in a scientific paper published in the prestigious journal Nature. Additionally, Carbios is working hand in hand with multinational brands — like L’Oréal, Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe — to implement its technology, and to lead the transition toward a truly circular economy.

The Company has also developed an enzymatic biodegradation technology for PLA (a bio sourced polymer) based single use plastics. This technology can create a new generation of plastics that are 100% compostable in domestic conditions, integrating enzymes at the heart of the plastic product. This disruptive innovation has been licensed to Carbiolice, a joint venture created in 2016, which is now Carbios’ subsidiary.

Carbios (ISIN FR0011648716/ALCRB) is eligible for the PEA-PME, a government program allowing French residents investing in SMEs to benefit from income tax rebates.

---

[1] Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the most abundantly used synthetic polyester in circulation today, with an estimated global production of 82 million metric tons per year. (HIS Markit in 2020)