The NaturALL Bottle Alliance launched this month by
Danone and
Nestlé Waters in collaboration with California’s
Origin Materials will help advance the industry’s circular economy ambitions.
The three will work together to develop a fully biodegradable commercial scale PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottle made from renewable and sustainable sources. Danone and Nestlé Waters – the world’s biggest bottled water companies – will provide Origin Materials with the financial backing to progress its pioneering technology.
Origin has made 80% bio-based samples at its Sacramento pilot plant. Now the startup will begin to construct its ‘pioneer plant’ where sample bottles made with more than 60% bio-based materials will be produced next year. The plan is to build on this and have bottles 75% bio-based around 2020, increasing to 95% in 2022. And he Alliance will continue its research with the ultimate goal of achieving 100%.
“Our goal is to establish a circular economy for packaging by sourcing sustainable materials and creating a second life for all plastics. We believe it’s possible to replace traditional fossil materials with bio-based packaging materials. By teaming up and bringing together our complementary expertise and resources, the Alliance can move faster in developing 100% renewable and recyclable PET plastic at commercial scale,” said Frederic Jouin, head of R&D for plastic materials at Danone.
The Alliance will give other stakeholders access to the technology in a spirit of open innovation designed to delver a sustainable future for the industry.