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Bioplastics Award 2011 voor Danone

Tijdens het 6e European Bioplastics Conference in Berlijn heeft Danone de Bioplastics Award ontvangen voor haar inzet om bioplastics toe te passen in de verpakking. Het gaat om de Actimel flesjes en de Activia yoghurtbekers.

Het materiaal waaruit de Actimel flesjes zijn gemaakt, is de zogenaamde ‘Groene HDPE’. Deze polyethyleen is chemisch bijna identiek aan de conventionele PE, maar is geproduceerd uit suikerriet op basis van bio-ethanol, dat wil zeggen het wordt geproduceerd uit volledig hernieuwbare bronnen en niet uit aardolieproducten.

PLA, het materiaal gebruikt voor de nieuwe Activia yoghurt potten, is ook volledig gemaakt uit hernieuwbare grondstoffen. De PLA (polymelkzuur) wordt verkregen uit zetmeel door fermentatie en is ook biologisch afbreekbaar.

Met PLA wil Danone niet direct de compostering bevorderen, maar andere verpakkingsfabrikanten stimuleren ook gebruik te maken van PLA, zodat er aanzienlijk grote hoeveelheden op de markt gekomen en een PLA-to-PLA recyclingfabriek economisch haalbaar wordt.
www.bioplasticsmagazine.com

Bioplastics Award 2011 for Danone

The prestigious Bioplastics Award went to Danone in recognition of their exceptional commitment to the use of bioplastics in the packaging of their leading brand products.

The 6th Bioplastics Award, this year for the first time awarded exclusively by the unique industry organ bioplastics MAGAZINE, went to Danone GmbH. Marianne Schweiger, Senior Packaging Development Engineer of Danone accepted the sought-after award on November 22nd during the 6th European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin.

It is one of Danone’s objectives to make a serious contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases. One of the various measures which they have taken is the use of bio-based or partially bio-based packaging. And here Danone are not concentrating on specific bioplastics but are choosing the most appropriate bioplastic for the job – be it up to 100% bio-based polyethylene, partially bio-based PET or 100% bio-based PLA. “This action by Danone is pointing the way for marketers of branded products in Europe and worldwide”, commented Dr. Michael Thielen, spokesman for the judges, and publisher of bioplastics MAGAZINE.

“We are very pleased about the award. A highly valued acknowledgement like this is wonderful confirmation of our achievement over years of research, and of our commitment in the field of bioplastics. We must get away from our dependence on petroleum and focus on packaging materials that come from renewable resources. We therefore hope that the award will motivate other companies to select bioplastics. It is only in this way that we will be able to establish a full recycling system, for example for PLA, and make full use of the material’s potential”, commented Dr. Andreas Knaut, Director Corporate Communications, Health and Sustainability.

The plastic material from which the Actimel bottles are made is so-called “Green HDPE”. This polyethylene is chemically almost identical to conventional PE, yet is produced from sugar-cane based bioethanol, i.e it is produced totally from renewable resources and not from petroleum products. PLA, the material used for the new Activia yoghurt pots, is also made completely from renewable raw materials. The PLA (polylactic acid) is obtained from starch by fermentation and is also biodegradable. However with PLA Danone is not promoting the composting aspect but is encouraging other packaging manufacturers to also use PLA so that significantly large quantities come onto the market and make a PLA-to-PLA recycling plant an ecologically sound and economical proposition.

 www.danone.de / www.bioplasticsmagazine.com