WASHINGTON – The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) Bioplastics Division today announced Eastman as the winner of the 2021 Innovation in Bioplastics Award. The company developed Aventa™ Renew a cellulose-based compostable material, created to help the foodservice industry achieve its sustainability goals in food packaging applications. Aventa Renew is made with a unique combination of sustainably sourced wood pulp and certified recycled content. It’s a sustainable material that is made responsibly and can be disposed of responsibly through composting, while providing the same performance as traditional plastics to ensure a safe and convenient user experience.
“We are honored to receive this Bioplastic Innovation Award from the Plastics Industry Association,” said David Nelson, Director, Corporate Innovation at Eastman. “We look forward to helping foodservice Brands achieve their sustainability goals by developing packaging that doesn’t compromise customers experience and enables a responsible end-of-use through composting.”
Aventa Renew is a sustainable alternative for conventional foodservice packaging materials, especially where recycling is not suitable. It helps divert waste plastics from landfills at two stages—when it is made and when it is composted. Aventa Renew is U.S. Food and Drug Administration compliant for single-use food contact.
Available at scale, Aventa Renew uses sustainably sourced wood pulp where Eastman holds the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Chain of Custody certification (FSC-C140711), ensuring the traceability of its wood-based raw materials. The material is BPI certified as industrial compostable (max thickness 10 mil). It is also TUV-Austria certified biodegradable in soil and fresh water and will not leave behind microplastics.
The recycled content of Aventa Renew is achieved through Eastman’s Chemical Recycling Technology (CRT), which uses a mass balance allocation process certified by ISCC (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification).
“We are excited to present the Innovation in Bioplastics Award to Eastman, recognizing Aventa™ Renew and their years of work in its development,” said Patrick Krieger, Senior Director of Materials and Sustainability at PLASTICS. “Aventa™ Renew demonstrates that Eastman is at the cutting edge in addressing plastic waste, food waste, and climate change through scientific ingenuity. Congratulations to the team at Eastman.”
The Innovation in Bioplastics Award is announced annually during PLASTICS’ Bioplastics Division’s Bioplastics Week. Bioplastics Week is a social media-driven initiative created to increase the visibility of bioplastics and educate people about the many benefits of bioplastics. Follow the conversation using #BioplasticsWeek.
To learn more about Eastman and Eastman Aventa™ Renew
visit: https://www.eastman.com/Brands/Aventa/Pages/Overview.aspx
About Eastman
Founded in 1920, Eastman is a global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With the purpose of enhancing the quality of life in a material way, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. The company’s innovation-driven growth model takes advantage of world-class technology platforms, deep customer engagement, and differentiated application development to grow its leading positions in attractive end markets such as transportation, building and construction, and consumables. As a globally inclusive and diverse company, Eastman employs approximately 14,500 people around the world and serves customers in more than 100 countries. The company had 2020 revenues of approximately $8.5 billion and is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA. For more information, visit eastman.com.
About Eastman in the circular economy
In 2019, Eastman began commercial-scale chemical recycling for a broad set of waste plastics that would otherwise be landfilled or incinerated, or worse, end up in the environment. Eastman Advanced Circular Recycling technologies process waste plastics traditional mechanical recycling methods cannot—including polyesters, polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene—derived from a variety of sources, including single-use plastics, textiles, and carpet. These technologies provide a true circular solution of endless recycling for materials, allowing them to be reused repeatedly. For more information, visit eastman.eco.
About Plastics Industry Association
The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) is the only organization that supports the entire plastics supply chain, representing nearly one million workers in the $432 billion U.S. industry. Since 1937, PLASTICS has been working to make its members and the industry more globally competitive while advancing recycling and sustainability. To learn more about PLASTICS’ education initiatives, industry-leading insights and events, networking opportunities and policy advocacy and the largest plastics trade show in the Americas, NPE: The Plastics Show, visit plasticsindustry.org. Connect with PLASTICS on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.