Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Business

Coca-Cola Advances BioBased Bottles

by Alexander H. Tullo
December 19, 2011 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 89, Issue 51

Coca-Cola has signed agreements with the industrial biotech firms Virent, Gevo, and Avantium to advance its goal of producing polyester beverage bottles entirely from plants. Coca-Cola’s current polyethylene terephthalate PlantBottle is made with plant-derived ethylene glycol and petrochemical-based purified terephthalic acid (PTA). Virent uses catalytic chemistry to convert sugars into the PTA raw material p-xylene. Gevo produces fermentation-derived isobutyl alcohol, which can be converted into p-xylene. And Avantium uses catalysis to turn sugar into furan dicarboxylic acid, which is reacted with ethylene glycol to make a competing polyester called polyethylene furanoate. Coca-Cola says it chose the firms from 30 potential partners.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.