LanzaTech, Total and L’Oréal produce first sustainable packaging made from carbon emissions
Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.
LanzaTech, Total and L’Oréal have announced the production of the world’s first sustainable packaging made from captured and recycled carbon emissions in the form of renewable polyethylene.
Press release: “LanzaTech, Total and L’Oréal announce a worldwide premiere: the production of the first cosmetic plastic bottle made from industrial carbon emissions”, 27/10/2020.
Related post: “Biobased polyolefins - Biobased Polyethylene (bio-PE)”, 27/5/2020.
Figure 1. LanzaTech, Total and L’Oréal produce first sustainable packaging made from captured and recycled carbon emissions
The conversion process takes place in three steps:
- LanzaTech captures industrial carbon emissions and converts them into ethanol using its gas fermentation process.
- Total, thanks to an innovative dehydration process jointly developed with IFP Axens, converts the ethanol into ethylene before polymerizing it into polyethylene that has the same technical characteristics as its fossil counterpart.
- L’Oréal uses this polyethylene to produce packaging with the same quality and properties as conventional polyethylene.
This world first demonstrates the commitment of the three partners to the development of a sustainable circular economy for plastics and paves the way for new opportunities for the capture and re-use of industrial carbon emissions. The partners now intend to continue working together on scaling the production of these sustainable plastics and look forward to working with all those who want to join them in committing to the use of these new sustainable plastics.
