Post by account_disabled on Feb 20, 2024 7:05:45 GMT
A new bottle in development for Bacardi looks like regular plastic. But if it ends up in a landfill, the ocean, or a backyard compost bin, the material will completely biodegrade. Called PHA, or polyhydroxyalkanoate, that plant-based material will soon start showing up in all kinds of packaging on store shelves. Various companies have joined this effort: PepsiCo is working on a bag made of this material. Nestlé is in the project of generating a biodegradable water bottle. Genpak is creating biodegradable food containers. PSI is making plastic packaging films that can be composted. CPG is making bags for compostable products. UrthPact and WinCup already have PHA straws on the market. We know that with single-use plastic, one of the big problems is that compared to what is collected, there is a lot that ends up in the environment. So one of our goals was to find a polymer that was, at the end of its useful life, completely biodegradable. Rodolfo Nervi, global vice president of sustainability at Bacardi. Responsible coating The company, which aims to be plastic-free by the end of the decade, is also working on one as a coating.
Although “biodegradable” plastic is not new, there are other options where the material has to be taken to industrial composting facilities to decompose (and even then, they create challenges for decomposition). PHA is different: it can be broken down without any specialized equipment. Steve Croskrey, CEO of Danimer Scientific, the manufacturer that developed the material, says: The main ingredient Europe Cell Phone Number List of the material is canola oil. Plants absorb carbon dioxide, and we take the carbon out of those plants in the form of vegetable oil. We feed bacteria that convert carbon into PHA and store it as an energy reserve. And we extract that polymer from inside the cell wall to make the plastic item. Let's say you make a straw and it accidentally gets thrown into a lake. When the bacteria in that lake find it, they eat it because it is their preferred food source. When it decomposes, it becomes carbon dioxide and water again, making a great circuit. Steve Croskrey, CEO of Danimer Scientific. Danimer, which has been working on the material for more than a decade, recently finished expanding its industrial facilities to begin large-scale production. (The company also recently announced a merger agreement with Live Oak Acquisition Corp. and plans to go public.
For new product types, creating new packages will take some time. Bacardi, for example, will work with the manufacturer to adjust the packaging so that it meets the necessary specifications to contain the alcohol. It is expected to take until 2023 before the bottles are ready to be released. But as Danimer creates each type of packaging, it can later replicate the approach for other brands with similar products. Once it has been done for the first time, it can be applicable to other products as well. Bacardi plans to share its solutions with competitors, including details such as the use of PHA within the lid lining. Steve Croskrey, CEO of Danimer Scientific. However, some environmental advocates are skeptical. Unfortunately, these packaging alternatives are not the silver bullet that companies want us to believe. They require access to composting options that provide the conditions necessary to break down the material, and they do not biodegrade equally in all environments.