Danone and Nestlé Waters, present in Italy through the Sanpellegrino Group, the two largest leading bottled water companies in the world, have joined forces with ORIGIN Materials, a biotech company based in Sacramento, California, forming NaturALL Bottle Alliance. Together, the three partners aim to develop and market a PET plastic bottle of bio origin, made from 100% sustainable and renewable resources. The project uses biomass raw materials, such as used cardboard and sawdust, so as not to subtract resources or land intended for food production for human or animal consumption. The technology represents a real scientific innovation for the sector and the synergy between the partners aims to make it available to the entire food and beverage industry.
Nestlé Waters and Danone are committed to adopting sustainable business practices, aimed at continuously improving their environmental performance and implementing a circular economy. Much of these efforts are devoted to developing innovative packaging solutions that are recyclable and made from renewable resources, as well as promoting recycling. The two companies, which had individually noticed ORIGIN Materials' unique approach, decided to join forces to accelerate the development of this promising technology.
“Our goal is to consolidate a circular economy in the packaging sector starting from sustainable materials, to give a second life to all types of plastic. – explains Frederic Jouin, Research & Development Director for plastic materials at Danone – We believe that it is, in fact, possible to replace traditional fossil materials with 'bio' packaging created with sustainable materials. Thanks to this synergy and the pooling of our respective experiences and resources, NaturALL Bottle Alliance will be able to move faster in the development of 100% renewable and recyclable PET plastic, on a commercial scale”.
Danone and Nestlé Waters, in addition to financial support, will provide ORIGIN Materials with the know-how and team necessary to make this technology available to the entire food and beverage sector in record time.
This new generation PET will be just as light, transparent, recyclable and protect the product as the PET used today but, at the same time, it will help to safeguard our planet. The exclusive use of renewable raw materials that do not take resources or land away from food production is the main area of interest of this Alliance. The Research and Development sector will first focus on cardboard, sawdust and wood shavings, without however excluding insights into other biomasses such as rice husks, straw and agricultural residues.
“Currently available technology makes it possible to produce PET with 30% renewable resources – underlines John Bissell, CEO of ORIGIN Materials – Our innovative technology aims to achieve commercial-scale production of 100% bio bottles. Thanks to the help of our partners, ORIGIN Materials will be able to make available on a large scale a technology that until now has only been tested at a pilot level”.
“It is incredible to think that, in the not too distant future, the industry will be able to use a packaging material produced with renewable resources, which does not harm food production and contributes to safeguarding our planet. – comments Klaus Hartwig, Research and Development Director of Nestlé Waters – That is why we believe it is essential to join forces in this alliance to develop this innovative technology on a large scale and in the shortest possible time. It is an extraordinary project and we are proud to be a part of it”.
ORIGIN Materials has already produced samples of 80% bio PET in pilot plants in Sacramento. The creation of a "pioneering plant" will begin in 2017, while the production of the first 60% bio PET prototypes will start in 2018. The initial objective, in terms of volume, for this first step is to place 5.000 meters on the market bio PET cubes. Thanks to complementary knowledge and a shared vision, NaturALL Bottle Alliance aims to develop the technical process to produce commercial-scale 95% bio-PET plastic bottles as early as 2020. The partners will continue to research to increase the level of material produced from from renewable resources, with the aim of bringing it to 100%.
