14 DAY TRIAL // Driven by the desire to reduce their negative impact on the environment, five major corporations have made public their decision to give up on using PET plastic packaging in favor of 100% plant-based materials and fibers.
These soon-to-be-green companies are Coca-Cola Co., H.J. Heinz Co., Nike Inc., Ford Motor Co. and Proctor&Gamble.
Known as the Plant PET Technology Collaborative, the working group formed by the afore-mentioned five corporations has as its end-goal the development of PET materials made entirely out of plants.
As is quite obvious, such packaging options would pose no threats to the natural world: whereas fossil-fuel plastics, which are derived from petroleum, take more than 100 years to break down in the environment, bioplastics degrade much faster and leave no significant traces.
The first company to step on the road towards all-green packaging was Coca-Cola Co., which in 2009 launched its innovative PlantBottle package.
Back then, the company was successful in having 30% of the plastic materials it used to make and deliver its products come from plant-based resources.
As environmentalleader.com informs us, the corporation now sets the bar even higher.
Together with the other four major corporations afore-mentioned, it intends to invest in developing technologies that will allow for all of their plastic needs to be satisfied by using green sources.
These companies' commitment towards lending a helping hand to the environment seems to have set an example for other (smaller) brands.
For example, Danone, the food and drinks manufacturer, wishes to also start using bio-based plastic bottles as soon as possible, and Mars Drinks North American is expected to start selling its beverages in recyclable packs.
The way we see it, the decision to give up on using fossil-fuel plastics in favor of plant-based one is one that can make quite significant differences when it comes to preserving the environment, and we honestly hope that this new project will turn out to be a successful one.