WINNER BRONS
PET bottles from CO2 recycling by Mibelle Group
What nature can, man can do as well: making ethanol from CO2 (carbon dioxide). This PET bottle by Mibelle is made in a Frontend-process doing just that, on the way to achieving industrial scale biobased polymer packaging materials. Plot spoiler: only the ethanol source for the PET is sourced this way, the other molecule needed to synthesise PET is still petrol-based.
With the CO2 recycling technology of the start-up LanzaTech, CO2 is converted into ethanol for MEG production, which is used together with PTA to produce PET. LanzaTech has found a way to produce alcohol from this CO2 via a fermentation process, which is also used for brewing beer, for example. The CO2 recycling process uses microorganisms that are able to convert the carbon dioxide directly into ethanol. Resultingly, around 30% of the PET bottle is made from this CO2 ‘recycling’ process.
Registrants: Mibelle Group and LanzaTech
