Skyrocketing resin prices have intensified the race to create plant-based PET bottles as replacements for petroleum-derived ones. This led to recent dual announcements, first by H.J. Heinz Company of plans to use Coca-Cola?s 30% plant-based PET PlantBottle? for packaging its ketchup, and then by PepsiCo which announced a 100% plant-based PET bottle in the laboratory. Bio-based ethylene glycol is available and replaces 30% of the fossil fuel.
The more challenging issue has been how the other monomer of PET, namely the PTA component, can be replaced by a bio-based version to cost-effectively achieve 100% renewable PET packaging near-term.
The ?holy grail? of a bio-based PTA may finally be a reality with the announcement by Virent on June 6th that it successfully made para-xylene (PX) from 100% renewable plant sugars. A patented catalytic process is used to convert the plant-based sugars into PX, identical to that made from petroleum. The conversion of PX to PTA is widely utilized commercial chemistry. In essence, the bio-based PX fills in the ?missing piece? to make a 100% bio-based PET bottle.
Further details on this remarkable achievement will be presented by Kieran Furlong, Virent?s commercial manager-chemicals, in a late addition to the BioPlastek 2011 Forum program. The Forum will take place on June 27-29, 2011, at The Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.????
Especially noteworthy is that the PX was made in Virent?s 10,000 gal/year demonstration plant. Others who claim to have converted biomass directly to aromatic intermediates (including PX) are believed to have done so only in a lab environment.
Virent used US-grown beet sugar as the feedstock in this demonstration. A similar process has been demonstrated at smaller scale with a wide variety of feedstocks.
To hear history in the making, register today at http://bioplastek.com to attend the BioPlastek 2011 Forum.
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