Faibrics secures $23.6M in new EU funding for CO2-based polyester

In France, Faibrics, a sustainable chemical company developing a technology that converts CO2 emissions into high value polyester through a circular manufacturing approach, announced it has raised €17 M from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation Program and €5 M from Partners to the Technology Upscaling Project, representing a total amount of €22 M to bring its innovative solution to market.

The EU’s grant was awarded to a consortium coordinated by Fairbrics that brings together 13 partners from 7 countries throughout Europe, ranging from upstream and process development experts (i.e. engineering design, CO2 capture, chemical reuse, electrolyzer) to final product specialists (i.e. Faurecia for automotive, Les Tissages de Charlieu for textile). To prompt societal impact, the Project also includes a strong educational component and, together with academic partners, it will develop learning and training resources on CO2 valorization for young professionals, university students and lifelong learners.

The combined funds will be used to upscale Fairbrics’ technology, first in a pilot line of 100 kg/day by 2024 and later, by 2026, in a 1 ton/day demo plant. The primary aim is to fight climate change and accelerate energy intensive industries’ decarbonation by replacing fossil-based polyester with CO2-based polyester, using a circular approach that recycles CO2 waste fumes from chemical plants into high value textile products. Fairbrics targets sectors employing polyester as a main material: clothing but also sports equipment, automotive and packaging.