Bacardi unveils new biobased bottle made from Danimer’s Nodax PHA
Type of post: NEWS.
Bacardi, the world’s largest family-owned spirits company, has unveiled plans to use a new sustainable bottle by 2023. Petroleum-based plastics used by Bacardi today will be replaced by Danimer Scientific’s Nodax™ PHA.
Press release: “Bacardi first in fight against plastic pollution with 100% biodegradable spirits bottle”, 21/10/2020.
Figure 1. Bacardi unveils new biodegradable bottle made from Danimer Scientific’s Nodax™ PHA (taken from the press release)
The new biodegradable bottle will replace 80 million plastic bottles (3,000 tons of plastic) currently produced by Bacardi across its portfolio of brands every year. This move is possible thanks to its close collaboration with Danimer, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable products. By the way, Danimer has recently entered into a definitive merger agreement with Live Oak Acquisition Corp.
Danimer’s Nodax™ PHA is a biopolymer which derives from the natural oils of plant seeds such as palm, canola and soy. Nodax was verified as a truly biodegradable alternative to petrochemical plastics by the New Materials Institute of the University of Georgia in a 2018 study. Danimer currently uses the material for a wide range of applications, including thermoformed trays, drinking straws, flexible and multi-layer film packaging, coatings, disposable cutlery, and more. While a regular plastic bottle takes over 400 years to decompose, the new spirits bottle made from Nodax will biodegrade in a wide range of environments (including compost, soil, freshwater and sea water) and after 18 months disappear without leaving behind harmful microplastics.
As well as the new 100% biopolymer bottle, Bacardi is also creating a sustainably sourced paper bottle. Moreover, the company has also committed to removing all its non-essential, single-use plastic, including all plastic gift box materials and plastic point-of-sale materials, in the next three years.
