Coca-Cola Launching Biobased Bottles

Coca-Cola says polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles incorporating sugar-derived raw materials are starting to hit store shelves. To make the plastic, the company is buying sugar and molasses from Brazil and having an undisclosed chemical firm convert these raw materials into ethylene glycol, which is polymerized with terephthalic acid to make PET (C&EN, May 25, page 9). The company is using the bottles in Denmark; will launch them in western Canada in December; and plans to test them in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle in January. Coca-Cola’s aim is to make 2 billion of the bottles by the end of next year.