Packaging made from recycled CO₂ at dm

The drugstore chain dm is producing packaging made from recycled CO₂: Denkmit „nature Spülmittel Ultra“ is the first product in a plastic bottle (without cap and label) with 30 per cent plastic made from recycled CO₂. Other Denkmit brand products will follow in the coming weeks.

LanzaTech, a partner company of the Drugstore chainhas a biochemical technology developed, to produce ethanol from CO₂. This in turn can be used directly as an ingredient in products, such as the „Pro Climate“ Denkmit washing-up liquid concentrate, or as a sustainable raw material for plastic packaging. „The CO₂ is discharged directly from the chimney of an industrial plant into a bioreactor. In the bioreactor, the CO₂ is converted into ethanol with the help of bacteria - currently unique in the world on an industrial scale,“ explains Kerstin Erbe, dm Managing Director responsible for Product Management. „dm is one of the first to utilise this pioneering technology to manufacture products: it helps to protect the climate and obtain raw materials in alternative ways.“

The advantage of this more sustainable plastic production: Recycling CO₂ reduces emissions because the gas is not released into the atmosphere. According to a study by Swiss Carbotech AG, the ecological footprint of this sustainable production of ethanol is 40 per cent lower. The plastic produced in this way can be placed in the Yellow Bag or Yellow Bin and recycled in the same way as conventional plastic.

This pioneering CO₂ conversion technology was developed recently with the German Packaging Award 2021 and the Gold Award for particularly pioneering innovations around the packaging.

Source: dm