Photo courtesy of Coca-Cola
If you thought that Coke was sweet before, then Coca-Cola’s newest bottles will give you a sugar rush. That’s because the company has developed a beverage container made solely from plant materials, including sugarcane.
While the bottles won’t actually change the taste of Coke or other Coca-Cola beverages, it is the first plastic beverage container made from 100% plant-based materials, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Coca-Cola unveiled the new “PlantBottle” – made from sugarcane and waste from the sugarcane manufacturing process – at the food technology conference World Expo in Milan, Italy on Wednesday.
“PlantBottle packaging maintains the high quality package consumers expect but with the added benefit of being made from renewable materials,” the company said in a statement. “It can be used for a variety of packaging sizes and across water, sparkling, juice and tea beverage brands.”
The beverage behemoth says it has been working to “develop a more responsible plant-based alternative to packaging traditionally made from fossil fuels and other nonrenewable materials.”
Back in 2009, the company debuted its first attempt at a greener bottle, but that one only continued 30% plant-material.
The latest beverage casing was made possible through a partnership with biofuels and biochemicals company Virent.
Working together, the two companies converted natural sugars found in plants – such as cane sugar – into plastic material, replacing the petroleum once used in Coke’s bottles.
“Today is a pioneering milestone within our company’s packaging portfolio,” Nancy Quan, Coca-Cola global research and development officer, said in a statement.
So far, Coca-Cola has made 35 million bottles based on its 2009 version with 30% plant-based materials, resulting in saving an equivalent of 315,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, the Journal Sentinel reports.
The company hopes to achieve wide use of the new 100% plant-based bottle by 2020.
Coke, Virent debut plastic bottle made 100% from plant materials [Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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