Thursday 29 October 2020

‘World’s first’ cosmetic plastic bottle made from industrial CO2 emissions unveiled

L'Oréal has joined forces with Total and carbon recycling biotech firm LanzaTech to create what is claimed to be the 'world's first' cosmetic plastic bottle made from industrial carbon dioxide emissions.

The conversion process starts when LanzaTech captures carbon emissions and converts them into ethanol.

Total then converts the ethanol into ethylene before polymerising it into polyethylene, which is considered to have the same technical characteristics as its fossil counterpart.

This polyethylene is used by L’Oréal to produce packaging with the same properties as conventional polyethylene.

The partners say they intend to continue working together on scaling the production of these sustainable plastics.

Senior Vice President Polymers at Total Valérie Goff commented: "This partnership is an excellent example of collaboration between industrial firms in developing the plastics of the future produced from recycled carbon and meets a strong demand from our customers.

Jacques Playe, L’Oréal Packaging and Development Director at L’Oréal, said: "We have the ambition to use this sustainable material in our bottle of shampoo and conditioner by 2024 and we hope other companies will join us in using this breakthrough innovation.”

LanzaTech Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Holmgren said: "Together, we can reduce the carbon footprint of packaging by converting carbon emissions into useful products, making single-use carbon a thing of the past."