Danone and Nestlé Waters invest in 100% renewable origin PET

Danone and Nestlé Waters, the two largest companies of bottled water in the world, joined forces with the Origin Materials, a startup based in Sacramento, California, to form the NaturALL Bottle Alliance. Together, the three companies aim to accelerate development to launch commercial-scale a PET bottle 100% derived from sustainable and renewable resources. The project uses biomass as raw material in order to not compete with food production for human or animal consumption.
After identifying the unique approach of Origin Materials separately, the two companies decided to join together to accelerate the development of this promising technology. Danone and Nestlé Waters are providing expertise and teams, in addition to financial support, to help the Origin Materials to provide this technology to all food and beverage industry in record time. The P&D will focus initially on cardboard, sawdust and wood shavings, but other biomass materials such as rice husks, straw and agricultural wastes can be explored.
The current technology on the market allows the production of PET with a maximum of 30% of renewable raw materials on a commercial scale. With the partnership, the Origin Materials can extend the technology that has already been proven on a pilot scale, with 80% of renewable raw material. Building a test plant will start in 2017 with the goal to produce initially around 5000 tons of PET with about 60% of renewable raw material. The NaturALL Bottle Alliance intends to develop the process of reaching a commercial scale production of PET containing at least 75% of renewable raw material in 2020, increasing to 95% in 2022. The goal is to continue to conduct research in order to reach 100% renewable raw material.