Suntory's Bio-based PET Bottles Come Out, Aiming to Replace All Petrochemical-based PET Bottles by 2030!

Bio-based Energy and Materials Report, December 3, 2021 --- Suntory Group created a prototype PET bottle made of 100% plant-based materials for Orangina in Europe and Suntory Tennensui bottled mineral water in Japan. The beverage manufacturer’s goal is to eliminate all petroleum-based virgin plastics from its global PET supply by 2030.

PET is produced using two raw materials, 70% terephthalic acid (PTA) and 30% monoethylene glycol (MEG).

The prototype bottle is made by combining Anellotech's technology, a plant-based paraxylene from wood chips that has been converted into plant-based PTA, and pre-existing plant-based MEG made from molasses. Since 2013, Suntory has been using MEG for its Suntory Tennensui brand in Japan.

"We are happy with this achievement because it brings us closer to delivering this [environmentally] sustainable PET bottle to our consumers," commented Tsunehiko Yokoi, executive officer of Suntory Monozukuri Expert.

"The significance of this technology is that PTA is produced from non-food biomass to avoid competition with the food chain, and MEG is also derived from non-food-grade raw materials."

It is estimated that the fully recyclable prototype plant bottle can significantly reduce carbon emissions compared to the original petroleum-derived bottle. It is estimated that Suntory’s plant-based bottles can significantly reduce carbon emissions compared to petroleum-derived original bottles.

"Painful" R&D process

This kind of plant bottle marks Suntory's breakthrough after nearly ten years of cooperation with American technology company Anellotech.

David Sudolsky, President and CEO of Anellotech, said: "This achievement is the result of more than a decade of thorough and hard work by Anellotech's dedicated employees and Suntory and other partners."

“Anellotech’s Bio-TCat’s competitive advantage for the production of para-xylene lies in its process efficiency. It uses a single-step thermal catalytic process to directly convert biomass into aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene and xylene), and contributes to significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The amount is compared to the same fossil-derived paraxylene used in the PET manufacturing process, especially when it generates the required process energy from the biomass feedstock itself."

Bioplastics boom

According to market data compiled in cooperation with nova-Institute, European Bioplastics (EUBP) revealed that global bioplastics production will more than triple in the next five years (2021-2026), when plant-based bottle prototypes come out.

At the same time, Asia has further consolidated its position as a major production center, and the region currently produces nearly 50% of bioplastics. It is worth noting that by 2026, Asia's market share is expected to exceed 70%.

Nearly a quarter of the production capacity is still located in Europe. However, EUBP predicts that with the increase in production in Asia, the share of Europe and the rest of the world will decline significantly in the next five years.

EUBP estimates that global bioplastic production will more than triple in the next five years.

In addition, the European Bioeconomy Union criticized the EU's life cycle assessment method for comparing bio-based plastics with traditional plastics, marking it as "unsuitable for use" and favoring fossil-based selection.

In a similar development, Coca-Cola launched a plant-based PET bottle prototype in October. The beverage giant produced a limited edition of 900 bottles, confirming that the prototype can be recycled within the existing recycling infrastructure, as well as PET from petroleum sources.

Suntory is committed to sustainable development

Suntory's plant bottle is one of the latest investments in its history to solve the social and environmental impact of containers and packaging. In 1997, the company formulated the "Environmental Design Guidelines for Containers and Packaging."
Especially in terms of plastic bottles, it adopted a 2R+B (reduction/recycling + biological) strategy to reduce the weight of containers, including labels and caps, and actively included them in its plastic bottles globally.

Introduce recycled or plant-based materials.

It’s worth noting that it created the lightest bottle cap and the thinnest bottle produced in Japan so far.

The lightest PET bottle.

"This plant-based bottle prototype demonstrates our historic dedication and at the same time illuminates our way to achieve our goal of fully [environmentally] sustainable PET bottles in 2030, and is also a step towards achieving greenhouse gas emissions throughout the value chain. The ambition of net zero emissions is moving forward to 2050," said Tomomi Fukumoto, Chief Operating Officer of Suntory's Sustainability Management.
Last year, Suntory Beverage and Food GB and the Irish brand Ribena minimized their labels to ensure that bottles can be easily identified, sorted and recycled using standard industry technology. Blackcurrant beverages also contain 100% recycled PET.