The Green Movement: Bottles get a makeover

There’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition, right? The world has been privy to much advancement thanks to the energy surrounding opposing companies after the same discovery. Never fear, competition is alive and well, as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are both bent on bringing the dream of green bottles made from plant materials to fruition!

The New York Times recently ran a story, “The Race to Greener Bottles Could Be Long,” by William Neuman. Neuman’s piece explained the current atmosphere within beverage companies, particularly that of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo and their respective efforts to be the first company to create and implement a line of 100% green, plant material bottles. It’s a lofty and exciting goal, but don’t expect to see these bottles on store shelves anytime soon.

Plastic bottles may appear simple or elementary to some people, but just ask a chemist and he or she will let you know they are lot more complicated than they seem. The task of creating plastic bottles from plants, when they have historically always been crafted from petroleum poses quite the predicament. Let’s look at what makes plastic bottles plastic bottles. Then we’ll decide whether a plant can replace missing components.

The article mentions that most beverage bottles are made from PET (hey, we carry PET too, imagine that!), which isn’t exactly a news flash since most of us have known that for a while. What is fascinating is that according to Neuman, PET consists of two ingredients, MEG (Monoethylene Glycol, a colorless and odorless alcohol) and PTA (Purified terephthalic acid). MEG is said to account for 30% of a PET bottle’s form, while PTA makes up the other 70%.

Coca-Cola took a big leap a few years ago when they began packaging Dasani in bottles made from 30% plant-based bottles. Coke aimed to be packaging all of their bottled products in these 30% plant bottles by 2020. Based on percentages you can probably tell that the plant material included in the Dasani bottle replaced MEG in typical PET bottles. The plant-based PTA component for all-green bottles is still in the research phase.

The article reports that the process of creating plastic bottles from plant material versus traditional manufacturing results in “smaller amounts of greenhouse gases,” so that’s a big plus. Not to mention the idea that using waste products, such as corn stalks is argued to be more beneficial for plant-plastic production than cultivating plants for the sole use of producing plastic bottles.

We don’t have the formula for green bottles figured out just yet. But PepsiCo has plans to take care of that later this year. The company is planning a production run-through, shooting to manufacture 200,000 green bottles. The success or failure of this experiment will speak volumes regarding the cost and manufacturing functionality of green bottles.

What’s that old adage? Ah, yes, “all good things come to those that wait”. This statement couldn’t be truer for this scenario. 100% plant bottles may not be available to consumers at this juncture in time, but research, a competitive spirit and passion will keep the flame alive until the bottles finally make their big debut.

Will eco-friendly plastic bottles make their debut on shelves soon? Read Kayla Holman’s post and get the scoop on plant bottles.