20. Mar 2019
PHA water bottle coming soon
It may sound like California Dreamin' but a new bottle, manufactured and marketed in California under the brand name Cove, is the first bottle of water made entirely of biodegradable material, say its makers.
The material the bottle is made of is PHA, which will break down into CO₂, water, and organic waste. This will happen in compost or a landfill, and even in the ocean.
PHA, or polyhydroxyalkanoate, is an FDA-approved, naturally occurring biopolymer. It’s biodegradable, compostable, produces zero toxic waste, and breaks down into CO₂, water, and organic waste.
To accurately determine the time frame in which this will happen, Cove is currently doing extensive testing across a range of different scenarios. According to the most conservative estimate right now, a Cove bottle will take five years to biodegrade in soil; but of all the possible environments to consider, 100% soil is one of the environments least conducive to biodegradation. It is also extremely unlikely that a Cove bottle will be fully buried away from the organic waste found in landfills and composts. Biodegradation in compost, landfills, and the ocean will likely happen much sooner than five years.
Cove is not being yet produced at scale. However, according to its makers, all manufacturing, filling, and packing for the California launch will take place in LA to minimize the environmental impact of the bottle’s production.
“As Cove expands, we will set up multiple manufacturing and packing facilities across the US. This will allow us to localize production and minimize transportation. Cove is not interested in shipping bottled water across oceans and continents,” said the company.
It added that ‘Cove will carefully select manufacturing and distribution partners as we expand’.
“This means making sure potential partners uphold the highest environmental standards and participate in the following where possible in their processes: renewable energy use, carbon offsetting, and other environmental stewardship programs,” said the company.
Some manufacturers have produced PHA derived from carbon dioxide and methane, the main greenhouse gases. Cove's long-term vision is to move to this method in order to produce carbon negative bottles.
Cove is launching in California in 2019.
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