LanzaTech, Total and L’Oréal have partnered on the development and introduction of the world’s first sustainable packaging made from polyethylene derived from captured and recycled carbon emissions.

The process from gas to packaging occurs in three steps. First, LanzaTech captures the industrial carbon emissions and converts them into ethanol using a unique biological process. Then, Total, using an innovative dehydration process jointly developed with IFP Axens, first converts the ethanol into ethylene and subsequently polymerizes this into polyethylene that has the same technical characteristics as its fossil counterpart. L’Oréal uses this polyethylene to produce packaging with the same quality and properties as packaging made from conventional polyethylene.

This technological and industrial success is thanks to the commitment of three partners to the development of a sustainable circular economy for plastics. It offers proof that industrial carbon emissions can be used to produce plastic packaging 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 wish to join them in committing to the use of these new sustainable plastics.

“This partnership is based on a shared goal of creating a cleaner planet for everyone,” said LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren. “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.”

Valérie Goff , senior vice president at Total called the partnership an ‘excellent example of collaboration between industrial firms in developing the plastics of the future’.

“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.”

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