The Coca-Cola Company on Wednesday debuted the world's first plastic bottle made entirely from plant materials.
The newest version of Coke's PlantBottle, unveiled at the World Expo in Milan, could enable the world's largest beverage company to distribute its products in containers that are fully recyclable and made completely from renewable material.
"Our vision was to maximize game-changing technology, using responsibly sourced plant-based materials to create the globe’s first fully recyclable PET plastic bottle made entirely from renewable materials," said Global Research and Development Officer Nancy Quan.
Conventional plastics manufacturing requires feedstock from petrochemicals and natural gas, and currently accounts for about 5 percent of the world's oil consumption.
The latest PlantBottle, however, uses BioFormPX paraxylene pioneered by Virent Inc., a Madison, Wisconsin-based startup that began partnering with Coke in 2011.
