Paper Bottle Project milestone: Barrier properties achieved through Avantium’s plant-based solution

14 Oct 2019 --- Chemical technology company Avantium has joined the Paper Bottle Project to provide a thin layer of polyethylene furanoate (PEF) that gives the paper bottle high barrier properties. The bottle must be able to withstand gas permeability to be used for beers and carbonated soft drinks. PEF is 100 percent plant-based and recyclable, which will complement the renewable paper used for the bulk of the bottle to give it strength and structure. Development work of the paper bottle with the PEF layer is in progress. The focus is now on building experience with participating companies, with Avantium looking to 2020 to start controlled testing.

The Paper Bottle Project is run by The Paper Bottle Company (Paboco), which is a joint venture between BillerudKorsnäs and ALPLA. Other major companies have also joined the project, including Carlsberg Group, L’Oréal, The Absolut Company and Coca-Cola Europe. The addition of Avantium and its high-barrier PEF layer brings the project one step closer to commercialization.

“PEF has a wide range of applications including packaging, textiles and film. It shows improved barrier properties for carbon dioxide and oxygen, leading to a longer shelf-life of packaged products. It also offers higher mechanical strength, which means that thinner PEF packaging can be produced and fewer resources are required. In combination with the plant-based feedstock, that added functionality equips PEF with all the attributes required to become the next-generation polyester, superior to the conventional PET,” Caroline van Reedt Dortland, Director Communications at Avantium, tells PackagingInsights.

She adds that should PEF end up in the environment, it will degrade in a matter of a few years, unlike plastics that can take hundreds of years. In combination with a significantly reduced carbon footprint, the added functionality gives PEF all the attributes to become the next-generation polyester, says the company. 

The paper bottle will be fully recyclable by separating the PEF from the paper. Through separation, each layer becomes a mono-material returned to the recycling stream. “Recycling for PEF is very similar to PET recycling, and trials have shown that the existing recycling systems are compatible with PEF, so no systems need to be developed. In addition, PEF can easily be distinguished and sorted from PET and other plastics using optical sorting systems used today,” explains van Reedt Dortland.

The paper bottle may ultimately prove a more sustainable alternative to plastic bottles.Sparking a movement
Ultimately, the paper bottle will be suitable for a range of applications, including packaging of soft drinks, water, alcoholic beverages and fruit juices. “Development to change an industry for good is not a small step, and innovation is not a straight line. As a joint venture with strengthened knowledge, Paboco and partners now push toward the scaling of the paper bottle,” says van Reedt Dortland.

Alongside the scaling of the production technology, the next step is the transition to a fully circular bottle solution, including a bio-based barrier enhancing recycling of the paper fibers and degrading harmlessly if accidentally disposed of in the natural environment.

“Right now, we are testing polymer-based barriers in order to learn and develop the barrier technology. In the prototypes, we have used two different polymer (RPET and PEF) materials, as there currently are no technical solutions available that are fully bio-based and biodegradable, while ensuring that the bottle can contain beer at the strict quality levels we require,” Simon Boas Hoffmeyer, Director of Sustainability at Carlsberg, tells PackagingInsights.

“The barriers are thinner than those of a normal PET bottle, given that the fiber shell provides structural strength to the bottle, enabling a much smaller amount of barrier. Nonetheless, our vision remains to make a fully bio-based and recyclable beer bottle without any polymers, but that will likely take a couple of years,” Boas Hoffmeyer continues.

The development journey was started in 2015 by innovation expert ecoXpac in close collaboration with Carlsberg Group and BillerudKorsnäs, followed by project partners joining along the way. The decision to run as its own business and name is designed to create attention and provide the best conditions possible for project success. 

Pobaco says that “the paper bottle project is perhaps the most important initiative of our industry in our time. The start of a journey that will spark a movement of consumers across the world in our pursuit of smarter solutions for a sustainable everyday life.”

By Katherine Durrell