Issue 02/2017
bioplasticsMAGAZINE_1702
bioplasticsMAGAZINE_1702
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daily upated news at<br />
www.bioplasticsmagazine.com<br />
News<br />
PepsiCo looking into<br />
compostable resins for<br />
snacks packaging<br />
An agreement between PepsiCo and Danimer Scientific will<br />
require the Georgia-based compoany to boost production of<br />
its Nodax PHA. Biodegradable film resins will be developed<br />
to meet the sustainable flexible packaging requirements of<br />
PepsiCo’s global food and beverage business.<br />
In October 2016 PepsiCo announced its 2<strong>02</strong>5 sustainability<br />
agenda, which includes the intent to reduce greenhouse<br />
gas emissions across its value chain and design 100 % of<br />
its packaging to be recoverable or recyclable. This goal is<br />
part of PepsiCo’s decade-long Performance with Purpose<br />
initiative to deliver top-tier financial performance over the<br />
long term by integrating sustainability into its business<br />
strategy. This collaboration is also expected to help expedite<br />
PepsiCo’s transition to packaging that is completely<br />
biodegradable for their snack food portfolio by incorporating<br />
Nodax PHA bioplastic into certain of its next-generation<br />
snacks packaging.<br />
“From the start PepsiCo has taken a holistic approach to our<br />
sustainability work,” said PepsiCo Vice Chairman and Chief<br />
Scientific Officer Dr. Mehmood Khan. “Our first objective<br />
is achieving long-term profitability and that requires<br />
sustainable solutions to grow our business while minimizing<br />
our environmental impact. Our plan to scale Danimer<br />
Scientifics’ technology is a step toward achieving both our<br />
greenhouse gas emission reduction and our recoverable<br />
and recyclable packaging goals.”<br />
“Danimer Scientifics’ partnership with PepsiCo marks<br />
a significant milestone as we continue to expand our<br />
biopolymer technology to provide innovative bioplastic<br />
solutions to a wider range of applications and products,”<br />
said Danimer Scientific’s CEO, Stephen Croskrey. “We’ve<br />
been developing a relationship with PepsiCo for the last<br />
seven years, and as one of the largest food and beverage<br />
companies in the world, their commitment to limiting the<br />
environmental impacts of their products can actuate real<br />
change in the way of sustainability.”<br />
Nodax PHA is a naturally occurring biopolymer produced<br />
by microbial bacteria as they ferment organically sourced<br />
oils. Traditional plastics are manufactured from chemicals<br />
obtained from mined crude oil or natural gas sources.<br />
Danimer Scientifics’ Nodax PHA received the first ever<br />
OK Marine Biodegradable certification from Vinçotte<br />
International, validating that the biopolymer safely<br />
biodegrades in salt water environments, leaving no toxins<br />
behind. Nodax PHA possesses seven Vinçotte certifications<br />
and statements of industrial and home compostability,<br />
biodegradability in anaerobic, soil, fresh water, and marine<br />
environments, and is bio-based. All of Danimer Scientifics’<br />
biopolymers, including Nodax PHA, are FDA approved for<br />
food contact. KL/MT<br />
www.danimerscientific.com<br />
www.pepsico.com<br />
Construction on new<br />
PHA production plant<br />
set to go forward<br />
Bio-on (Bologna, Italy) has announced that work will<br />
soon start on the construction of a new plant dedicated<br />
solely to production of PHA special biopolymers for<br />
niche and rapidly developing product categories, and<br />
particularly for the cosmetics sector.<br />
This new plant, based in Castel San Pietro Terme in<br />
the province of Bologna, has 3,700 covered m 2 , 6,000 m 2<br />
land for development and a total area of 30,000 m 2 . The<br />
plant will have a capacity dedicated to the research<br />
into and production of 1,000 tonnes per year rapidly<br />
expandable to 2,000 tonnes per year. The plant will be<br />
equipped with the most modern technologies and the<br />
most advanced research and development laboratories.<br />
New carbon sources from agricultural waste will be<br />
continuously tested to produce biopolymers to increase<br />
the range of technologies offered by Bio-on, which will<br />
invest 15 million Euro and will create 40 new jobs.<br />
The PHA bioplastics (polyhydroxyalkanoates)<br />
developed by Bio-on are made from renewable<br />
plant sources with no competition with food supply<br />
chains. They guarantee the same thermo-mechanical<br />
properties as comparable conventional plastics<br />
with the advantage of being 100% sustainable and<br />
biodegradable at ambient temperature.<br />
“We have received excellent support from the local<br />
authorities,” said Marco Astorri, Chairman and CEO of<br />
Bio-on, “which has allowed us to meet the schedule we<br />
set out in November 2016 when our new industrial plan<br />
<strong>2017</strong>-20 was submitted to Borsa Italiana.”<br />
“It is a challenge to work alongside a company<br />
with international ambitions that successfully team<br />
innovation and research in the bio and natural<br />
microplastics sector,” declared Fausto Tinti, Mayor of<br />
Castel San Pietro Terme (Bo). “Both employment and<br />
our territory stand to benefit from Bio-on’s investment<br />
and the Administration wants to be a significant<br />
presence in this important project.” KL/MT<br />
www.bio-on.it<br />
Design: Enrico Iascone<br />
bioplastics MAGAZINE [<strong>02</strong>/17] Vol. 12 5