SPOTLIGHT: Product Innovation

New ‘Compostable’ Polymer Bottles Contain Your Favorite Beverage With Nature in Mind

BIOTA Water and Naturally Iowa hope their new brands get a boost from consumers’ appreciation for a “natural” plastic.

BIOTA Water in Colorado and Naturally Iowa Dairy are building their new beverage brand identities by tying them to a “natural” bottle. These beverage companies are the first to bottle products in corn-based NatureWorks® PLA, produced by Cargill Dow, and they are banking on the natural packaging to grab shoppers’ attention and retailers’ shelf space.

PLA stands for the polylactide polymer that is made from the carbon and other elements in natural corn sugars by a process of fermentation, separation, and polymerization. The point of the polymer is not to let nature biodegrade the bottles over years, but to separate them in the recycling stream and composte the material over several months in industrial facilities.

Brian Glasbrenner, business development manager with Cargill Dow LLC, explains the market allure of a unique package. “These beverage companies sought a new path to innovation—a one-of-a-kind bottle,” he says. BIOTA is the acronym for “Blame It On The Altitude,” and the premium Rocky Mountain spring water comes from one of the highest natural alpine springs in the world, high above Ouray, CO.

David M. Zutler, CEO of BIOTA Brands of America, Inc. saw an opportunity to differentiate this product in a novel and positive way. “BIOTA water is the perfect combination of premium spring water and environmental respect,” says Zutler. To further promote the premium experience, Zutler decided to make the bottle sturdier with 25% more thickness in the bottle walls. The BIOTA film labels on the bottle are also made of NatureWorks PLA, and Zutler hopes one-day to replace the plastic caps with a more “earth-friendly” material.

“We milk the cows and grow the bottles”

The Naturally Iowa company began with several dairy farmers trying to sell direct to consumers and has blossomed into a growing line of organic and natural dairy products. Naturally Iowa is developing packages for its natural and organic milk in a half-gallon “grip” bottle of NatureWorks PLA, as well as single-serve beverages.

Naturally Iowa President Bill Horner hopes NatureWorks PLA will differentiate the brand through packaging. “We’re a David up against giants with bigger marketing budgets and distribution,” Horner says. “But we’re getting tremendous attention for pairing our natural milk products with bottles that are just as natural.”

The NatureWorks PLA bottles are primarily targeted for short-shelf life applications that use cold-filling techniques such as water, fresh juices, and dairy beverages. The substrate succeeds as a packaging medium because of its transparency, which allows the consumer to clearly see the product, and because—like PET—it can be formed into a near endless variety of shapes.

Monolayer bottles of NatureWorks PLA can be formed on the same injection-molding/stretch blow-molding equipment used for PET, with no sacrifice in production rate. In addition, sensory paneling of several foodstuffs stored in NatureWorks PLA bottles show the corn-based material offers comparable organoleptic properties to glass and PET.

PLA is what is known as “sustainable packaging” because it uses renewable resources. The fact is, most PET bottles end up in landfills, and PLA is one small way that volume may be better controlled. Recycling facility trials show PLA can be collected through current plastic recycling channels, and the technology exists to separate PLA efficiently from other commonly recycled materials.