Another company looks to develop bio-based recyclable PEF bottles
By Canadian Packaging Staff
Sustainability ALPLA Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH Avantium Danone The Coca-Cola CompanyALPLA joins The Coca-Cola Company and Danone in Avantium’s PEF bottle development.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands—Avantium, a renewable chemicals company, and ALPLA Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH, one of the world’s leading plastic converters, have announced a joint development agreement for the development of PEF (polyethylene furanoate) bottles.
After The Coca-Cola Company and Danone, ALPLA is the third company to collaborate with Avantium on PEF, a bio-plastic based on Avantium’s proprietary YXY technology. The goal of these collaborations is to bring 100 per cent bio-based PEF bottles to the market by 2016.
“Avantium is very excited to have ALPLA enter the Joint Development Platform for PEF bottles,” Avantium chief executive officer Tom van Aken. “With ALPLA’s extensive and proven know-how in PET conversion, bottle design and bottle manufacturing, ALPLA will be a major contributor to accelerate the commercial roll out and industrialization of PEF.
He continues: “Jointly we can make PEF available for packaging in innovative markets and traditional applications. Together we have taken up the challenge to develop the supply chain for PEF as sustainable bio-based packaging material to the beer and alcoholic beverage markets.”
ALPLA chief executive officer Günther Lehner states: “By signing this agreement ALPLA once again demonstrates its leadership in innovation in this industry. In the 1980’s ALPLA was the first to introduce the two step PET bottle which started the transition from PVC to PET.
“Today we are able to take innovation a step further and introduce our customers in the food, home care and personal care area to the next generation of bio-based polyester, PEF,” says Lehner.
YXY technology
With brand owners are leading the transition from fossil resources based packaging materials like PET (polyethylene terephthalate) to bio-based materials, bio-based materials should be compliant with existing recycling solutions.
The YXY technology platform is a cost-competitive, ground-breaking technology to convert plant-based materials into chemical building blocks for bio-plastics, like PEF, which is a 100 per cent bio-based and recyclable polyester.
The PEF development goal is to replace plastics like PET. PEF developers state their product has superior properties to PET, as a significantly higher barrier to oxygen, carbon dioxide and water, extending product shelf life and reducing production costs.
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