Carbios, a specialist in biological technologies for plastics recycling, and Sleever, a major player in heat-shrinkable label-sleeves, have entered into a partnership to co-develop Home Compost biodegradable mono-oriented transverse direction heat-shrinkable films. This project meets the growing need for sustainable packaging in sectors such as luxury goods and mass retail, with applications in labeling, wrapping and packaging security.
These films offer a compostable solution at room temperature, and use the Carbios Active enzyme, which guarantees the biodegradability of the packaging.
A sleeve label, or shrink sleeve, is a type of packaging used primarily to dress and label products. It takes the form of a heat-shrinkable plastic film which, when heated, shrinks to fit the shape of the product, whether cylindrical or irregular.
Innovative enzymatic technology
Carbios Active is an enzyme developed to accelerate the degradation of PLA (polylactic acid), a bioplastic commonly used in packaging. This enzyme, added directly during film manufacture, makes sleeves compostable, without leaving behind microplastics. The production line in Clermont-Ferrand is capable of producing 2,500 tonnes of Carbios Active per year, enough to make 50,000 tonnes of enzymatic packaging.
Impact on the circular economy and international development
This project is part of a circular economy approach, an area in which Sleever is already heavily involved. With over 500 patents to its credit, the company has been working for 15 years to reduce the carbon footprint of packaging.
The partnership between the two companies opens up new business prospects, particularly internationally. In particular, the two companies intend to target markets such as wines and spirits, where Sleever is already the market leader.
Carbios CEO Emmanuel Ladent concludes: "Our partnership with Sleever to bring compostable sleeves to market opens up new business opportunities for Carbios, particularly in the wine and spirits sector where Sleever is a leader. Thanks to the inclusion of Carbios Active in the formula, these types of packaging become compostable at room temperature, thus contributing to a more sustainable packaging industry."
