LanzaTech, Total and L’Oréal have premiered the world’s first sustainable packaging made from captured and recycled carbon emissions.
The conversion process will take place in three steps. Firstly, LanzaTech captures industrial carbon emissions and converts them into ethanol using a unique biological process. Due to an innovative dehydration process jointly developed with IFP Axens, Total converts the ethanol into ethylene before polymerizing it into polyethylene that has the same technical characteristics as its fossil counterpart. Then L’Oréal uses this polyethylene to produce packaging with the same quality and properties as conventional polyethylene.
The companies believe it is a technological and industrial success proving that industrial carbon emissions can be used to produce plastic packaging. Further stating this world first demonstrates the commitment of the three partners to the development of a sustainable circular economy for plastics and paves the way for new opportunities for the capture and re-use of industrial carbon emissions.
The partners now intend to continue working together on scaling the production of these sustainable plastics and look forward to working with all those who want to join them in committing to the use of these new sustainable plastics.
LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren said: “This partnership is based on a shared goal of creating a cleaner planet for everyone. We are grateful to both L’Oréal and Total for their commitment to reducing the carbon intensity of their activities. Together, we can reduce the carbon footprint of packaging by converting carbon emissions into useful products, making single-use carbon a thing of the past.”
Senior Vice President Polymers, Total, Valérie Goff announced: "This partnership is an excellent example of collaboration between industrial firms in developing the plastics of the future produced from recycled carbon and meets a strong demand from our customers. The development of this new pathway of valuing industrial carbon emissions also contributes to the Group's commitment to get to net zero in Europe by 2050.”
Jacques Playe L’Oréal Packaging & Development Director, L’Oréal, said that “L’Oréal is constantly improving the environmental footprint of its packaging. With this innovation converting carbon emissions into polyethylene, we aim to develop new sustainable packaging solution. We have the ambition to use this sustainable material in our bottle of shampoo and conditioner by 2024 and we hope other companies will join us in using this breakthrough innovation.”