Suntory develops 100% plant-based PET bottle

The Suntory Group has created a prototype polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle made from 100 percent plant-based materials as a crucial step toward eliminating all petroleum-based virgin plastic from its bottles and containers.

This breakthrough is the result of over ten years of development work by Suntory and US-based sustainable technology company, Anellotech.

The plant-based bottle is made by combining Anellotech's plant-based paraxylene derived from wood chips, converted to plant-based PTA, with the pre-existing molasses-based MEG that Suntory has been using in its Tennensui brand in Japan since 2013.

According to David Sudolsky, President and CEO of Anellotech, their Bio-TCat generated paraxylene uses a single-step thermal catalytic process by going directly from biomass to aromatics, such as benzene, toluene, and xylene.

It also creates a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil-derived paraxylene in the manufacture of PET.

Suntory, which produces the Orangina brand in Europe and its best-selling bottled mineral water brand in Japan, Suntory Tennensui, aims to use 100 percent sustainable PET bottles globally by 2030.

Suntory has been addressing the social and environmental impacts of containers and packaging by creating sustainable packaging solutions since 1997.