Coca Cola: New Partnership with JBF Industries Ltd. to Deliver World's Largest plant-based material Facility
Ronald J. Lewis, Vice President, Procurement & Chief Procurement Officer at The Coca-Cola Company said, "The benefits of sustainable innovation are only fully realized when commercialized and put in the hands of consumers. In 2009, we introduced the world to our PlantBottle ™ package -- the first recyclable PET plastic bottle made partially from plants. Today, Coca-Cola has sold more than 10 billion PlantBottle™ packages around the world that are less dependent on petroleum and have a lower carbon impact. We are pleased that our partnership with JBF Industries Ltd. will help us further expand global production."
To support this partnership, JBF Industries Ltd. will build the world's largest facility to produce bio-glycol -- the key ingredient used to make PlantBottle™ packaging. The facility, which will be located in Araraquara, Sao Paulo, Brazil, will produce the ingredient using locally sourced sugarcane and sugarcane processing waste. Both materials meet The Coca-Cola Company's established sustainability criteria used to identify plant-based ingredients for PlantBottle™ packaging. These guiding principles include demonstrating improved environmental and social performance as well as avoiding negative impacts on food security.
Construction on the new facility is expected to begin at the end of this year and last for 24 months. At full capacity, it is estimated the facility will produce 500,000 metric tons of material per year. By using plant-based materials instead of non-renewable materials, the facility will remove the equivalent of 690,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide or the equivalent of consuming more than 1.5 million barrels of oil each year.
Today, Lewis joined Geraldo Alckmin the Governor of Sao Paulo, Brazil; Marcelo Barbieri, Araraquara Mayor; Cheerag Arya, Chief Executive Officer of JBF Industries Ltd. and Xiemar Zarazúa, President of The Coca-Cola Company's Brazil Business Unit, at Bandeirantes Palace in Sao Paulo to announce the partnership.
PlantBottle™ packaging is available in more than 24 countries worldwide and across a wide variety of Coca-Cola products. Since the package launched in 2009, its use has eliminated the equivalent of almost 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions -- the equivalent of 200,000 barrels of oil from The Coca-Cola Company's PET plastic packaging.
Packaging is moving away from oil
ackaging has been 'going green' for some years, ever since the commercialisation of biodegradable plastics, such as polylactic acid (PLA). PLA has since been joined by many similar materials, and their use continues to increase.
But a new revolution has begun: that of non-biodegradable bioplastics. A number of major players, such as Coca-Cola, are beginning to use plastic packaging that is derived - at least in part - from renewable resources. And they have plans to substitute more and more petroleum-derived plastics.
A variety of polymers - from polyolefins to nylon - can now be made commercially from sugar and starch, rather than crude oil. The main user of these new materials, at least in the short term, is the packaging sector.
Coca-Cola's redesigned water bottle contains 30% plant-based material
Bio-sourced plastics account for less than 1% of all consumption. And most of this is derived from corn or sugar. But a wealth of potential starting materials – from meat to mushrooms – is also being investigated.
These new bio-sourced plastics have become available because of research into renewable precursors – the chemicals that are polymerised to make plastics.
New ways of making chemicals like succinic acid could transform the way in which plastics are produced.
"The bio-based chemicals sector is poised to transform the production of industrial chemicals," says Marifaith Hackett, chemical analyst at consultancy IHS, and author of a recent report on bio-based building blocks.
She cites Coca Cola's 'Plant Bottle' (bio-sourced PET) as a material that is beginning to be made from renewable sources.
New sources
PET is made from two precursors that are traditionally derived from crude oil: mono ethylene glycol (MEG) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA). Coca-Cola's 'Plant Bottle' uses sustainably-sourced MEG - and the drinks giant wants to source its PTA in the same way.
It will take the technology forward with help from three biotechnology partners: Virent, Gevo and Avantium.
Virent is scaling up a plant to make bio-based paraxylene, a precursor of bio-PTA; Gevo will also supply plant-based paraxylene for a similar purpose; and Avantium is using its YXY technology to produce polyethylene furanoate (PEF), a sustainably sourced variant of PET. It currently operates a 40 tonnes/year pilot plant, but has plans to scale this up in order to supply PEF to Coca-Cola in future.
"This is the next step towards our vision of creating all of our plastic packaging from responsibly sourced plant-based materials," says Rick Frazier, vice president of commercial product supply at Coca-Cola.
By 2020, the company intends to make all of its bottles using renewable technology - making them 100% sustainable.
At the same time, new corporate sustainability goals by companies like Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble are helping to push green packaging design up the agenda. P&G, for example, aims to replace 25% of its petroleum-based packaging with sustainable alternatives by 2020.
And consumer giant Unilever has launched a new search for Open Innovation partners, which includes a focus on sustainable packaging.
The company is inviting potential collaborators to work with its research teams to create "lighter, more sustainable packaging that will cut the weight, quantity and waste of our product packaging". It has a particular interest in ideas for food packaging.
Some of the areas it is considering include: stronger materials; thin-walling and downgauging; multi-purpose films; novel design, which might borrow ideas from fields like architecture or building construction; and material solutions including new polymers, fillers, additives, fibres or micro-bubbles.
Other feedstocks
Many bioplastic monomers are made from common crops - but researchers are trying ever more unlikely sources as starting points for 'green' polymers.
Corn, sugar, beans and potatoes are all used as raw materials to make plastics as diverse as nylon and PLA. But the emerging challenge is to use 'non-food' sources - including algae, cellulose and food industry 'waste', such as shells and husks - to make environmentally-friendly plastics.
Cereplast already offers bioplastics made from algae, while US start-up company Myriant has devised a process to make both lactic acid and succinic acid from cellulosic feedstocks; the main use of lactic acid is as the precursor for PLA. And one of the first ever commercial polymers, cellophane, is based on cellulose.
The emergence of these new monomers could lead to the creation of new polymers. An example is PBS, a biodegradable plastic made from (bio-based) succinic acid. PTT-MCC Biochem will use bio-succinic acid from US-based BioAmber to produce 20,000 tonnes a year of PBS, at a plant in Thailand, due to open in 2014.
Other suppliers are also focusing on succinic acid: BASF and Purac have used a specially designed microorganism to produce it from renewable feedstocks, for example.
Hackett says that PBS would not have been economical before, as succinic acid was not a cheap enough feedstock. The advent of ready supplies of succinic acid now makes its production a commercial reality, she says.
A meaty solution
But it's not just plants that might form the basis of future bioplastics. In a paper presented at the recent Antec plastics technical conference, researchers from Clemson University in the US revealed details of how to make a bioplastic from waste meat proteins.
Sam Lukubira and Amod Ogale, of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, used meat- and bone-meal (MBM) to produce bioplastic sheets. They believe that the sheets have potential use in geo-structural applications.
Process conditions had to be set carefully. When the relative humidity of the MBM powder was above 55%, excessive denaturation produced a dark, glue-like material. Glycerol (around 30% by weight) was used as a plasticiser and the pressed sheets were tested for mechanical properties. Those made with finely ground particles (less than 250 microns) were twice as strong as those made from larger particles.
A similar technique, using blood meal, has already been commercialised by New Zealand-based Novatein. The bioplastic made in the process has similar mechanical properties to low density polyethylene (LDPE), says the company, and is made using a "scalable process".
Novatein was spun out of Waikato University, where the original research was carried out by senior lecturer Johan Verbeek. The company expects to have developed a commercial product within the next few years.
The company has high hopes for the technology: it says that around 1.5kg of bioplastic can be made from 1kg of blood meal - and New Zealand's meat industry produces around 80,000 tonnes a year of bovine blood.
Packaging designers are under ever-increasing pressure to incorporate sustainability into their thinking. When down-gauging has gone as far as it can go, this emerging breed of bio-sourced materials will help them in their aims – whether they have come from blood, mushrooms or corn.
Source: www.prw.com
Via: http://bioplastic-innovation.com
Five companies today announced the formation of the Plant PET Technology Collaborative (PTC)
The Coca-Cola Company, Ford Motor Company, H.J. Heinz Company, NIKE, Inc. and Procter & Gamble have announced the formation of the Plant PET Technology Collaborative (PTC), a strategic working group focused on accelerating the development and use of 100% plant-based PET materials and fiber in their products. PET, also known as polyethylene terephthalate, is a durable, lightweight plastic that is used by all member companies in a variety of products and materials including plastic bottles, apparel, footwear and automotive fabric and carpet.The collaborative builds upon the success of The Coca-Cola Company's PlantBottle™ packaging technology, which is partially made from plants and has demonstrated a lower environmental impact when compared to traditional PET plastic bottles. Currently, Heinz licenses the technology from Coca-Cola for select Heinz ketchup bottles in the U.S. and Canada.
This new collaborative was formed to support new technologies in an effort to evolve today's material that is partially made from plants to a solution made entirely from plants. By leveraging the research and development efforts of the founding companies, the PTC is taking the lead to affect positive change across multiple industries. PTC members are committed to researching and developing commercial solutions for PET plastic made entirely from plants and will aim to drive the development of common methodologies and standards for the use of plant-based plastic including life cycle analyses and universal terminology.
"Fossil fuels like oil have significant impacts to the planet's biodiversity, climate and other natural systems" said Erin Simon, Senior Program Officer of Packaging for World Wildlife Fund (WWF). "Sustainably managing our natural resources and finding alternatives to fossil fuels are both business and environmental imperatives. It's encouraging to see these leading companies use their market influence to reduce dependence on petroleum-based plastics. We hope other companies will follow their lead."
These leading brand companies are making a commitment to champion and support research, expand knowledge and accelerate technology development to enable commercially viable, more sustainably sourced, 100% plant-based PET plastic while reducing the use of fossil fuels. PTC member companies look forward to working together to meet each member's future business goals and lead the charge toward 100% plant-based materials.
Source: http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com
Heinz Ketchup PlantBottles goes to Canada
Unveiled in February 2011, Heinz' PlantBottle packaging was rolled out across the US in a big way last year and now, on the eve of Earth Day 2012, the firm's Canadian division has renewed its eco-friendly credentials by highlighting the design's environmentally-beneficial attributes.
Plant-derived material makes up 30 per cent of the overall PlantBottle mix. That, according to recent research undertaken by IMI GlobalPulse, ought to ensure it's held in high esteem by a Canadian consumer base, of which 60 per cent believes environmentally friendly products are of high ethical value.
Heinz Ketchup PlantBottle
The Heinz Ketchup PlantBottle is equal in appearance, feel and function to a conventional PET plastic bottle design and is just as recyclable.
575ml Heinz PlantBottles arrived in Canada at the start of the year and, more recently, they've been joined by larger 750ml-sized bottles. These 750ml PlantBottles can be purchased in grocery stores across Canada, while the smaller ones appear in restaurants nationwide. Heinz Canada's Ketchup production facility is located in Leamington, Ontario, and the tomatoes used in it hail from a fleet of 45 growers, all of whose fields lie within a 100 kilometre range of the factory.
Heinz itself is presently committed to a major greenhouse gas, water use, solid waste and energy consumption reduction programme and is aiming to have achieved 20 per cent cuts, across the board, by 2015.
Heinz Canada PlantBottle
"The revolutionary PlantBottle packaging and our groundbreaking partnership with The Coca-Cola Co provides a great opportunity for Heinz to advance our environmental stewardship efforts", Heinz Canada's Chief Executive Officer and President, Peter Luik, explained in a 18 April company press release.
"Converting to PlantBottle packaging is a global initiative for Heinz and we are pleased to offer Canadians and their families products and innovative packaging options that help make a difference to the planet we all share."
Source: http://www.packaging-int.com
Coca-Cola introduces innovative PlantBottle packaging to Great Britain
Coca-Cola Great-Britain is today rolling out its innovative PlantBottle packaging, taking the next step on its journey seeking to develop a truly sustainable plastic bottle. The move will help decrease the company’s reliance on fossil fuels for its plastic and strengthen its contribution to greater use of renewable and recycled materials.
From today in Great Britain, all Coca-Cola, Coke Zero and diet Coke in 500ml bottles will be sold in PlantBottle packaging: PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles made partially from plants.
More than 200 million PlantBottle packages will hit the shelves in the UK this year, part of a rollout of genuine scale: globally this year more than 5 billion PlantBottle range packs will be on the market in 20 countries.
The company’s vision is that all its plastic bottles will be made from a combination of plant-based materials and recycled PET plastic by 2020.
The packaging has a lower reliance on non-renewable resources compared to traditional PET plastic bottles and is fully recyclable. With exactly the same visual appearance as ‘regular’ plastic bottles, consumers will be able to identify the new bottles through on-pack messaging and a new logo.
Just over half of all The Coca-Cola Company drinks globally are sold in PET plastic bottles and these are traditionally made entirely from petroleum and other non-renewable fossil fuels. By contrast, the new PlantBottle packaging in Great Britain is made from up to 22.5% plant-based material and up to 25% recycled PET plastic. The plant-based component of the new bottle is sourced from bioethanol from sugarcane. The Coca-Cola Company has been working closely with WWF and the Bonsucro organisation to choose sugarcane from plantations in Brazil, sources widely recognised by thought leaders for their environmental and social performance.
In launching the bottles today, Coca-Cola Great Britain is also calling on its consumers to play their part and keep recycling empty bottles. PlantBottle packaging can be recycled in exactly the same way alongside traditional PET bottles. The material in PlantBottle packaging can therefore be used, recycled and reused again and again.
Today’s announcement builds on the company’s leadership in the development of recycling initiatives for its packaging. The Coca-Cola Company was the first to introduce a bottle containing recycled plastic (in 1991) and has invested significant resources in recycling reprocessing and infrastructure in numerous countries where it does business. These efforts are all focussed on helping to “close the loop” on packaging re-use and with the ultimate goal of providing more sustainable packaging for consumers.
Jon Woods, Country Manager for Coca-Cola Great Britain & Ireland said today:
“We are absolutely committed to making a positive difference – to the health of our planet, individuals and communities. The PlantBottle package is a bottle we can all feel good about and is a significant step on our journey towards more sustainable packaging.
“It looks, feels and functions just like a normal plastic bottle, but it helps reduce our reliance on non-renewable resources.
“While we’re proud of today’s PlantBottle packaging, we’re already hard at work to evolve the next generation of packaging. We’re especially excited about the potential to develop recyclable plastic from natural, renewable resources like stems, fruit peels and bark, which can be sourced from almost anywhere in the world. We’re not there yet as a commercial product, but, working with our research partners, we think we’ll get there in the next three to five years.”
Patrick Laine, Director of Corporate Partnerships at WWF UK said:
“Coca-Cola’s aspiration to use packaging that is 100% sourced from renewable resources and compatible with existing recycling systems is highly commendable. This product launch is an important milestone for the industry in the journey to truly sustainable packaging.”
Source: http://www.eppm.com
Coca-Cola inaugurates Valpré plant, introduces PlantBottle™ packaging to Africa
Coca-Cola South Africa has announced the opening of its new Valpré plant and the introduction of PlantBottle™ packaging to Africa. The new state-of-the-art facility will fill Valpré Spring Water in Heidelberg, southeast of Johannesburg. Selected for its close proximity to markets and distribution sites in the Guateng Region and a similar source water profile as Valpré's, the new plant will help Coca-Cola South Africa meet the needs of the increasing demand for bottled water in the country. The new Valpré plant is undergoing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification -- an internationally recognized program that is the accepted benchmark for design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. The design of facility maximizes recycled materials and makes optimal use of water and solar energy. It has a "zero to landfill" target.
The Company launched Coca-Cola's innovative PlantBottle™ packaging. This packaging has revolutionized the beverage industry as the first-ever recyclable PET plastic beverage bottle made from up to 30% plant that is 100% recyclable. This is the 10th market to launch the bottle in the world and the first in Africa. PlantBottle™ packaging has a lighter footprint on the environment due to its reduced dependence on nonrenewables such as petroleum. By the end of 2010 (in two years since its introduction in the United States), more than 2.5 bln PlantBottle™ packages had been produced, eliminating the equivalent of approximately 60 000 barrels of oil from our plastic bottles. In addition to the environmental aspects of the plant and the new PlantBottle™, the Heidelberg plant is run by a team of talented, black women operators. This reinforces Coca-Cola's commitment to positively impact the communities in which it operates. In 2010, Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO ofCoca-Cola announced the Company's 5 BY 20 pledge which aims to empower 5 million women by 2020 through the Coca-Cola system. This is one of several programmes in South Africa to meet this challenge.
Source: www.plastemart.com
Dasani and Odwalla launch nationally in PlantBottle
Just in time for Earth Month, The Coca-Cola Co. has announced that all of its Dasani brand water bottles nationwide and Odwalla single-serving juice bottles will be available exclusively in PlantBottle® packaging.
The single-serve Odwalla packages are made from up to 100% plant-based materials with high-density polyethylene plastic, while PET bottles for Dasani are made with up to 30% plant-based materials..
According to Coca-Cola, billions of PlantBottle packages that will reach store shelves this year. In 2010, more than 2.5 billion PlantBottle packages were available across nine countries. For 2011, that number is expected to double to more than 5 billion PlantBottle packages in more than 15 countries.
“It’s our goal to make traditional plastic bottles a thing of the past and ensure that every beverage we produce is available in 100 percent plant-based, fully recyclable packaging,” says Scott Vitters, general manager, PlantBottle Packaging Platform, The Coca-Cola Company. “The national launch of Dasani PlantBottle packaging represents an important step toward reducing our carbon footprint, and the up to 100 percent plant-based, recyclable packaging used for Odwalla is the first of its kind in the beverage industry.”
Traditional PET bottles are made from petroleum and other nonrenewable fossil fuels. Incorporating a blend of petroleum-based materials with up to 30% plant-based materials allows PlantBottle packaging for Dasani to reduce potential intrinsic carbon dioxide emissions when compared with PET plastic bottles.
“Dasani is designed to make a difference by offering a better designed package for a more sustainable future,” says John Roddey, vice president and general manager, Water, Tea and Coffee, Coca-Cola North America. “Because Dasani PlantBottle packaging is up to 30 percent made from plants and still 100 percent recyclable, it was designed with the planet in mind by helping to reduce the impact of our packaging on the environment.”
Odwalla is first with 100% plant-based HDPE
PlantBottle packaging used for Odwalla is made of HDPE plastic created using only ethylene derived from 100-percent renewable sugarcane-based ethanol. Odwalla is the first nationally distributed beverage brand to transition its packaging to fully recyclable, HDPE plastic made from 100% plant-based materials.
“The launch of PlantBottle packaging for Odwalla represents a significant step in our brand’s ongoing efforts to protect our planet,” says Odwalla president Alison Lewis. “Since its inception, Odwalla has maintained a very simple vision: make great juice, do good things for the community, and build a business with a heart.”
The plant-based materials for both Dasani and Odwalla PlantBottle packaging are produced through a process that turns sugarcane into a key component for PET and HDPE plastic. Currently, PlantBottle packaging is made using sugarcane ethanol from Brazil, the only source widely recognized globally for its unique environmental and social performance, according to Coca-Cola. Brazilian sugarcane is primarily rain-fed and industrially grown on abundant, arable land using organic fertilizers. The plantations from which PlantBottle materials are sourced are located far away from Amazon rain forests, and their impact on biodiversity is reduced thanks to advanced farming practices and sound public policy.
Notes Coca-Cola, unlike other plant-based plastics, PlantBottle packaging is entirely recyclable and can be processed through existing systems. This ensures PlantBottle packaging can be repeatedly used, recycled, and reused. In addition, there are no differences in shelf life, weight, composition, or appearance between traditional PET plastic bottles and PlantBottle plastic bottles.
In late 2009, PlantBottle packaging was launched in the western U.S. and eight other markets around the world. To date, PlantBottle packaging is estimated to have eliminated the equivalent of 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or 3 million gallons of gasoline used to produce PET plastic bottles. Currently, Coca-Cola is working to further technology so other plant materials can be used in future PlantBottle packaging. The ultimate long-term goal is to turn waste into a resource, resulting in a carbon-neutral, 100%-renewable, responsibly sourced bottle that is fully recyclable.
“Several approaches to a PET package made entirely from plants have been successfully demonstrated in laboratory testing. We’re working to advance this breakthrough science to ensure it is commercially viable,” says Vitters. “PlantBottle packaging means only good things for everybody. We welcome others in the industry joining us in advancing the science behind packaging made from plants.”
The national rollout of PlantBottle packaging for Dasani will be supported by a national television spot breaking in April. Additional executions will include enhanced packaging graphics, as well as out-of-home, print, digital, and point-of sale-advertising to build awareness for PlantBottle packaging. Odwalla’s marketing program includes coupons, print advertising, and digital programs. New labeling point-of-sale materials for in-store displays will feature attention-grabbing messages such as “Paper or Plastic? Try Plant!”
Source: www.packworld.com
Via: www.plasticsinfomart.com
How Plant – Bottle is made
The key difference between PlantBottle packaging and traditional PET plastic bottles is that instead of using petroleum and other fossil fuels to produce a key ingredient in the plastic, PlantBottle packaging uses materials that are up to 30% plants-based. In essence, we are trading fossil fuels for plant-based material without sacrificing performance or recyclability
In some markets, we will use both recycled content as well as plant-based material in our PlantBottle packaging. For bottles that use recycled material, the recycled content plus plant-based material should enhance the environmental benefit associated with PlantBottle packaging by further reducing the use of virgin petroleum-based material in producing that package.
Products & Markets
PlantBottle packaging is available in nine countries with launches planned for many additional markets in 2011 and beyond.
- Denmark - Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light and Coca-Cola Zero
- Western US - Dasani , Coca-Cola, glaceau vitaminwater, Sokenbicha
- Western Canada - Dasani , Coca-Cola, Diet Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Sprite, Fresca, Barqs
- Japan – Sokenbicha, iLOHAS
- Brazil – Coca-Cola
- Mexico – Coca-Cola
- Norway - Bonaqua
- Sweden - Bonaqua
- Chile - Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light and Coca-Cola Zero
PlantBottle packaging was also featured at The Coca-Cola Company pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo in Coca-Cola 200ml bottles.
To date, over 2.5 billion bottles have been produced in PlantBottle packaging, exceeding our stated goal of 2 billion bottles by the end of 2010. We plan to double our use of this innovative package in 2011 and we currently intend over the long-term to transition all of our plastic packaging to PlantBottle packaging or other types of packaging that uses renewable and recycled content materials.
Identifying PlantBottle
A PlantBottle PET bottle feels like traditional PET plastic, it's the same weight as traditional PET plastic, it works just like traditional PET plastic, and it's recyclable just like traditional PET plastic -- because it is PET plastic. So how will you know if the bottle you have is PlantBottle packaging? Look for the PlantBottle logo or messages on the package, and look for sales displays in the store where you shop.
Sustainable Packaging Strategy
Our sustainable packaging goal is to reduce our environmental footprint by reducing our material use, increasing recycling, using more recycled and renewable material in our packaging, and advancing innovative technologies. PlantBottle packaging fits well into that broader strategy by allowing us to reduce our dependence on a nonrenewable resources by being a fully recyclable bottle like conventional PET plastic bottles, and by leaving a lighter footprint on the plant and its scarce resources.
Learn more about our sustainable packaging vision and strategy.
PlantBottle Evolution
At Coca-Cola, sustainable packaging innovation is in our DNA. We’ve consistently been on the leading edge of bringing consumer-driven, environmentally responsible developments to the marketplace – from commissioning the first-ever environmental lifecycle assessment of packaging in 1969 and launching our first PET plastic bottle in 1978, to introducing the first plastic beverage bottle made with recycled material in 1991 and opening the world’s largest bottle-to-bottle PET plastic recycling plant in 2009.
While the launch of PlantBottle™ keeps us on the forefront of plant-based packaging innovation, we continue to strive to make an even better bottle. PlantBottle™ packaging is currently made through a process that converts sugarcane into monoethylene glycol (MEG), which represents 30 percent of the total composition of PET plastic by weight. We are working with our partners to crack the code on plant-based purified terephthalic acid (PTA) – which accounts for the other 70 percent of PET. This will involve breakthrough science, but we’ve got some of the smartest minds in the field focused on it today.
We’re also working with several strategic R&D partners, including researchers at universities and research institutes globally, to advance technologies to extract sugar from plant-based wastes for future generations of PlantBottle™ packaging. So, while we are only using sugarcane today, we expect over the long-term to also be able to use natural resources like stems, fruit peels and bark in the near future. Each of these initiatives has a profound impact on our packaging supply chain, which we are literally rebuilding to accommodate the sustainable production and use of PlantBottle™ packaging.
We want our packaging never to be seen as waste, but rather as a valuable resource for future use. This entails introducing packaging that fuses design, form and function, and uses the most environmentally responsible materials available. Our ultimate long-term goal is a carbon neutral, 100% renewable, responsibly sourced bottle that is fully recyclable – a bottle we can all feel good about. Read about the evolution -- past, present and future -- of our PET plastic bottle.
ODWALLA "PLANTS" SUSTAINABLE SEED WITH NEW BOTTLE INITIATIVE
Next year is looking even greener for Odwalla. The natural health beverage company announced today its plans to transition all of the brand's single-serve bottles toPlantBottle™ packaging, HDPE made of up to 100% plant-based materials* and 100 percent recyclable, in March 2011.
The new Odwalla package will help to reduce dependence on nonrenewable resources. For example, the potential annual CO2 emission reduction from the use of plant-based material, instead of petroleum, to make Odwalla's PlantBottle™ packaging is equal to a savings of almost 400,000 gallons of gas.
"Plants do such a good job of making our juice, Odwalla hired them to help make our bottles," said Alison Lewis, President, Odwalla. "Doing good things for the community and building a business with heart are core guiding principles of Odwalla's vision. PlantBottle™ packaging is just the latest step in our continued commitment to the environment."
Combined with Odwalla's Plant A Tree Program, which has planted over 300,000 trees in the last 3 years, and Odwalla's Bloom Energy Fuel Cell technology commencing at Odwalla's plant in Dinuba, CA -- which reduces the plant's carbon footprint by 35 percent while supplying 30 percent of the plant's energy needs -- PlantBottle™ packaging is the latest step in Odwalla's efforts and innovations to reduce dependence on nonrenewable resources.
PlantBottle™ packaging consists of material derived from molasses and sugarcane juice. It has the same performance as traditional HDPE and PET bottles: no differences in shelf life, weight, composition or appearance. PlantBottle™ HDPE can be recycled again and again in today's recycling facilities. The redesigned plastic represents a significant step in our sustainability efforts and in protecting the planet.
*Minimum of 96% plant-based HDPE (high-density polyethylene)
About Odwalla
Odwalla, Inc. delivers nourishment coast to coast with the Odwalla family of juices, juice drinks, smoothies, protein drinks, and nourishing food bars. Odwalla has been making juices and innovating in the natural health beverage category for 30 years. Its nourishing beverages and food bars are available in natural food stores, select supermarkets and specialty outlets throughout the country. To learn more about Odwalla products and Odwalla's commitment to the environment, please visit www.Odwalla.com . Also follow Odwalla on Facebook and Twitter (@Odwalla).
Source: http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com
