100% bioPET bottle closer to reality
Sustainable technology company Anellotech and its joint development partners IFPEN and Axens have processed renewably-sourced aromatics made at Anellotech’s TCat- 8 pilot plant to successfully recover high-purity bio-based paraxylene – a key component for making 100% biobased PET bottles a reality.
Anellotech, IFPEN and Axens will now purify additional paraxylene to create pilot sample 100% bioPET beverage bottles – as well as sample quantities of bio-based benzene whose derivatives (nylon, ABS, polycarbonate, linear alkyl benzene) are used in clothing, toys, mobile phones and laundry detergent. Anellotech and global consumer beverage company Suntory will collaborate to produce the bottles.
Anellotech has been producing renewably-sourced aromatics for purification by IFPEN and Axens in Europe. Since the announcement of a successful two-week continuous trial in March 2018 at Anellotech’s TCat-8 pilot plant at Silsbee, Texas, over 4,000 hours of cumulative on-stream time have been achieved.
An initial volume of high-purity bio-paraxylene test samples has been produced. These samples have completely met all of the ASTM International specifications for downstream derivatives in conversion to PET. As larger amounts of paraxylene are purified, Anellotech will begin to make renewable PET resin for prototype bottle manufacture and product trials. This will be the industry’s first major production of bio-PET from continuous, costeffective processing of non-food biomass.
As well as bio-paraxylene, Anellotech continues to work on the recovery of bio-benzene and toluene from TCat-8 output. Separation and purification of high-purity bio-benzene will enable sample volumes of a range of important bio-based polymers such as nylons, polycarbonate, polystyrene and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) to be produced.
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