The French cosmetics giant L’Oréal has developed and produced the first bottle made of polyethylene, made from industrial gases (carbon). The polymer was obtained at the plant of the French energy and petrochemical group Total together with the American company LanzaTech, which is implementing gas fermentation technologies.

The LanzaTech process captures industrial carbon emissions and converts them into ethanol using a biological process, Total said. Total obtained this ethanol and applied a dehydration process to convert it to ethylene and then to polyethylene using technology developed with French partners IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN, Rueil-Malmaison) and Axens (Rueil-Malmaison). The resulting polyethylene was processed by L’Oréal to make vials using extrusion blow molding technology, writes PIE.

Secondary gas polyethylene has the same qualities and properties as conventional virgin polymer, Total said, and can be used to make packaging.

The company noted that the partners intend to continue working together to scale up the production of such environmentally friendly polymers, hoping to work with other stakeholders to further process them.

“This partnership is an excellent example of industrial collaboration to develop polymers of the future made from recycled carbon and meets the high demands of our customers,” said Valérie Goff, senior vice president of Polymers, Total.