Bio-based PET
Later this year, Suntory Holdings Ltd. (Osaka, Japan; www.suntory.com) will start up a demonstration plant in Silsbee, Tex. for the production of 100% bio-based PET bottles. The company will introduce these PET with its Suntory Beverage & Food’s mineral water under the “Suntory Tennensui” brand.
Up to now, most bio-based PET bottles contain 30 wt.% bio-based mono ethylene glycol, with the remainder made up of petroleum-based terephthalic acid. In 2012, Suntory and Anellotech Inc. (Pearl River, N.Y.; www.anellotech.com) began to jointly develop bio-based aromatics, including bio- para -xylene, the key component needed to make bio-based PET bottles. In order to avoid competition with the food chain, two companies aim to use only non-food biomass (wood chips) to produce p -xylene, a precursor to terephthalic acid, which makes up 70% of PET resin.