Recently, the unlabeled polylactic acid (PLA) bottles jointly developed by TotalEnergies Corbion and Sansu (i’m eco) are set to enter the Korean market. These products are made from the Luminy® polylactic acid raw material under this French group. The bottle body has no traditional labels, and the brand logos and text are presented in relief form.
This bottle is specifically designed for the closed-loop recycling system jointly developed by both parties. After being scrapped, it will enter the depolymerization stage. The label-free design eliminates the subsequent label removal process, making the material recycling process purer and enabling higher-quality recycling utilization.
After the bottle is recycled, it will first undergo pre-treatment and then complete chemical recycling through the hydrolysis process - this process can decompose polylactic acid into its original basic raw material, lactide monomers. These monomers will then be reused to produce recycled Luminy® polylactic acid (rPLA), maintaining stable performance and quality of the finished product. This recycling technology was verified four years ago, and only then did both parties decide to bring this bottle to the market.
In regions with professional industrial composting facilities, this new type of polylactic acid bottle can also undergo organic recycling.
Hao Ding, the global market director of Total Energy Cobreon, said: "The current market is increasingly focusing on the recyclability of materials, carbon reduction performance, and consumer acceptance. This project confirms the great potential of polylactic acid-based solutions - they can not only meet the functional requirements of products, but also help achieve larger-scale circular economy goals, while not affecting brand recognition and industrial production performance."
