It is not a secret that the wide distribution and usage of non-degradable PET is currently a very serious environmental problem throughout the world. Many companies try to reduce the use of plastics in their products as much as possible, but, unfortunately, this is not always acceptable. But developments do not stop and it is likely that PEF-based bioplastics will soon appear as an alternative to PET. PEF is a high quality, fully recyclable plastic.

The Finnish Center of Technical Research VTT in December last year patented a technology that allows to use agricultural pectin-containing waste, such as orange peel or sugar beet pulp, as a raw material for the production of PE. The technological breakthrough achieved by VTT is the production of a stable intermediate product for the production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, one of the PEF monomers, which makes it possible to provide a highly efficient PEF production process.

In addition to the possibility of processing PEF plastics, they also have higher barrier properties, which increases the shelf life of packaged products.

At the moment, VTT aims to bring the received experimental developments to the level of technological readiness, allowing manufacturers to easily switch to the production of PET.

“In the near future, you may buy orange juice in bottles that are made out of orange peel. VTT’s novel technology provides a circular approach to using food waste streams for high-performance food packaging material, and at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” shares Professor of Practice Holger Pöhler from VTT.

At the same time, the change in the type of plastic is unlikely to affect the change in packaging made from this plastic. This means that lines for packaging various drinks in plastic bottles will confirm their versatility and beverage manufacturers will not have to make significant changes to their technological processes.

The materials are used from the site vttresearch.com.