PEF bottles made out of chicory salad waste

17 February 2016

800,000 tons: That’s how much waste in the form of chicory roots is generated during the production of chicory salad in Europe per year. German researchers found that these roots can be used to generate Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), that can used as a basic material in the plastics industry.
It serves as a raw material for nylon, perlon, polyester, or plastic bottles – so-called PEF-bottles. According to the researchers, the chicory root produces a chemical of higher value than the crude oil-equivalent. This means that PEF-bottles made out of chicory-HMF could for example be thinner than bottles made out of crude oil-PET (News Item University of Hohenheim, 10 February 2016).
Click here for the news item.

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