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FEATURE and CO 2 in minimises oxidation, ensuring the product inside the bottle remains fresh. Moreover, PEF’s thermal properties in terms of heat resistance not only enhance its safety performance, but also allow for higher temperature hot filling than PET. And if that was not enough, it is 60% lighter than PET. So, with attributes that support the quality and shelf-life of the product inside as well as being 100% bio-based, what’s not to love? PEF’s starting material is fructose, also known as ‘fruit sugar’, found naturally in fruits and other plants. Fructose for PEF is extracted from corn, wheat, sugar beet, and sugar cane, from which it is concentrated into a syrup. It is no surprise that PEF has attracted the attention of global drinks companies, such as Danish brewer Carlsberg who form part of a ‘pioneering community’ designing the world’s first “paper bottle”. The beverage brand owner Coca-Cola (with a sizable portfolio of carbonated soft drinks packaged in PET), spirits producer the Absolut Company (Pernod Ricard) and personal care company L’Oréal have since joined the party. THE PAPER BOTTLE PROJECT The project was started in 2010 by ecoXpac, a Danish fibre and paper bottle design and innovation start-up. Carlsberg joined in 2015 to initiate the ‘green fibre bottle’ project collaborating on the first paper bottle prototype based on recycled fibres. By 2019 the aptly named Paper Bottle Company (shortened to PaBoCo) was set up as the ‘community platform’ for the Paper Bottle Project, bringing together Swedish paper packaging material developer BillerudKorsnäs and Austrian plastic packaging specialist Alpla. The Dutch biochemical company Avantium is the technology provider, developing and supplying the all-important PEF. Although each company’s goals and timelines differ, PaBoCo enables product development teams from the partners to exchange ideas, give feedback and build on learnings. Some of the partners are also part of the EU consortium PEFerence, a 5-year project set up in 2017 to establish an innovative supply chain for PEF. Carlsberg’s aim to make the world’s first paper beer bottles is part of its bid to drive down the amount of plastic used in its packaging. The brewer has developed two promising prototypes: one uses a thin recycled and recyclable PET plastic film; the other a bio-based PEF polymer film, both of which are used to test barrier technology along with consumer perceptions and branding concepts. Carlsberg’s Vice President of Group Development, Myriam Shingleton, says “We highly value the many performance and sustainability features of PEF. Together, we aim at shaping the next- generation packaging for a circular and low-carbon future”. The aim is to create a recyclable 100% bio-based bottle as part of Carlsberg’s wider sustainability goals to achieve zero carbon emissions at all its breweries. GOING AROUND IN CIRCLES Globally, production of plastic from fossil fuels is around 380 million tonnes per year – a 200-fold increase year-on- year since 1950 when plastic began to saturate the world and change our lives. Half of this is single-use plastic and only 9% is recycled. The rest ends up as pollutants in the natural environment and the world’s oceans and will take hundreds of years to degrade, if it ever degrades at all. It’s important to note here that plastic is not all bad: it is cheap, versatile, lightweight, and robust; it plays a critical role in maintaining food quality, safety and reducing food waste. So, the trade- offs betweenplastic and its alternatives or substitutes, or even complete bans, will be complex and could potentially create a negative impact on the environment. While it may not be possible to close all the recycling loops, the aim should be towards a circular economy, one where plastics never become waste. Production and recycling glass is high on the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions list; then it’s aluminium cans and lower down the list, PET. Recent data shows the energy needed to process PEF is up to 70% lower in carbon footprint than for PET. There is another attractive point regarding PEF: it biodegrades quickly – current studies show this to be as short as 12 months. The plant sugars to make PEF could be even more sustainably sourced from biowaste – from brewers’ spent grains, perhaps. With concerted development efforts from its proponents, PEF is closer to entering the market than you might imagine. The target date is 2023. In a world beset by pollution from plastics, it can’t come soon enough. Photo from: carlsberggroup.com 28 | Winter 2021 | ontapmag.co.za