Coca-Cola Signs Agreement to Boost PlantBottle Packaging

Left to right: Lee Edwards, CEO, Virent; Patrick Gruber, CEO, Gevo Inc.; Rick Frazier, vice president, commercial product supply, The Coca-Cola Co.; and Tom van Aken, CEO, Avantium

The Coca-Cola Co., headquartered in Atlanta, has signed multi-million dollar partnership agreements with three biotechnology companies that the company says will accelerate the development of the its PlantBottle packaging, which is made from plant-based materials.

The effort to commercialize a plastic bottle made entirely from plants builds on Coca-Cola’s introduction and roll-out of its first generation PlantBottle package, which the company says is the first recyclable PET beverage bottle made partially from plants. Since being introduced in 2009, the company has distributed more than 10 billion PlantBottle packages in 20 countries.

The three companies taking part in the partnership are Virent, Gevo and Avantium, each of which are involved in developing plant-based alternatives. The agreements were signed following a two-year analysis of different technologies by Coca-Cola’s research and development team and technical advisory board.

“While the technology to make bio-based materials in a lab has been available for years, we believe Virent, Gevo and Avantium are companies that possess technologies that have high potential for creating them on a global commercial scale within the next few years,” says Rick Frazier, vice president of commercial product supply, Coca-Cola. “This is a significant R&D investment in packaging innovation and is the next step toward our vision of creating all of our plastic packaging from responsibly sourced plant-based materials.”

Coca-Cola says the agreements with the three companies will help it support its long-term commitments through sustainable practices in sourcing and packaging supply. The company adds that while Virent, Gevo and Avantium will follow their own route to make bio-based materials, all materials will be developed in line with company and industry recycling requirements.

“Virent’s long term agreements with The Coca-Cola Co. are pioneering milestones in the commercialization of our technology to produce plant-based materials,” says Lee Edwards, Virent’s CEO. “Our patented technology features catalytic chemistry to convert plant-based sugars into a full range of products identical to those made from petroleum, including bio-based paraxylene – a key component needed to deliver 100 percent plant-based PET packaging.

“PET made from Virent’s bio-based paraxylene features the same high quality and recyclability as materials used today, with the added benefit of being made from a wide range of renewable materials. The company is targeting early 2015 for the opening of its first full-scale commercial plant,” Edwards adds.

“We are extremely gratified to have won the confidence of The Coca-Cola Co. and are excited to support Coca-Cola’s sustainable packaging goals with this agreement to develop and commercialize technology to produce paraxylene from bio-based isobutanol,” says Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo. “New technologies need champions. The Coca-Cola Co. is in a unique position to drive and influence change in the global packaging supply chain with this development. You cannot ask for a better champion than one of the most respected and admired consumer brands.”

“Avantium is very proud to partner with The Coca-Cola Co. to demonstrate that our patented “YXY” technology produces bio-based PEF bottles with exceptional functional properties at a competitive price,” says Tom van Aken, CEO of Avantium. “YXY is a very exciting solution for today’s packaging challenges, using plant-based materials as feedstock to enable the manufacture of more sustainable packaging materials, such as PEF bottles. We have produced PEF bottles with promising barrier and thermal properties and look forward to our work with Coca-Cola to further develop and commercialize PEF bottles. Our production process fits with existing supply and manufacturing chains and we are targeting commercial production in the next few years.”

Coca-Cola will continue to make investments in PlantBottle technology and aims to use PlantBottle packaging for its entire virgin PET supply by 2020.