France's Carbios appoints new members to executive committee

Lionel Arras joined Carbios’ teams in 2021 to support the industrial growth of PET enzymatic recycling technology as industrial development director. He was recently  appointed to the company’s executive committee. An engineer who graduated from ENSIC Nancy and holds an MBA from the Lyon School of Management, Lionel Arras has more than 25 years of experience in the field of process engineering and the chemical industry. At Carbios, he now heads a team of around 50 people mobilised around three major divisions the industrial demonstration plant, inaugurated last September in Clermont-Ferrand, technological development, the first Reference Unit project, installed on the Indorama Ventures site in Longlaville, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France, Carbios said in a media statement.

Mathieu Berthoud will join Carbios as sourcing and public affairs director on June 1, 2022. With more than 30 years of experience, including ten years at Rhodia and more than 20 years at Suez, in various commercial development or subsidiary management positions, he was most recently technical and performance director for the group’s recycling and recovery activities. A university-trained scientist, he also holds an MBA from HEC Paris. At Carbios, he will be responsible for securing the supply of PET waste for the future reference plant in Longlaville and the other industrial sites that will follow. He will also manage the company’s public affairs.

“After the successful start-up of our industrial demonstration plant in Clermont-Ferrand, we are continuing our scale-up with the construction of the first enzymatic recycling plant in the world in Longlaville, France. Its launch, scheduled for early 2025, will enable the processing of 50,000 tons of post-consumer PET waste or the equivalent of 2 billion bottles. It is a great source of pride for me to be able to support Carbios in this strategic development phase,” Lionel Arras, Carbios’ industrial development director, said in a statement.

“I am delighted to be joining Carbios’ team. It is a great source of pride for me to take part in this ambitious and meaningful project. While PET enzymatic recycling technology is already a concrete circular economy solution, the implementation of a dedicated channel will also be key to achieving the sustainable development objectives of future Carbios licensees,” Mathieu Berthoud, sourcing and public affairs director at Carbios, said.

“I am very pleased with the appointments of Lionel Arras and Mathieu Berthoud to the Carbios executive committee. These appointments strengthen the group’s structure and expertise at an exciting stage in our development. Their experience will be complementary and necessary for the successful large-scale deployment of our disruptive technology. In order to ensure the achievement of the ambitious objectives that we have set for the coming years, we are continuing to strengthen our management teams,” Emmanuel Ladent, chief executive officer of Carbios, said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)