Braskem is to become a Green Plastic supplier for the traditional Rio de Janeiro-based brand Café Favorito. The first polyethylene of renewable origin to be produced in the world, the resin will be applied in the 500 g coffee pillow packs.

"We produce over one million metric tons of coffee annually, sold mainly in the Lagos and Serrana regions and in the south of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The use of Green Plastic in our packaging reinforces our effort in the search for sustainable performance," explained Adriana de Oliveira, Chief Commercial Officer of Café Favorito.

Made from sugarcane, one of the main differentiators of Green Plastic is its contribution to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere by capturing 3.09 metric tons of carbon dioxide during its production process. It should also be noted that, because it is 100% recyclable, the CO₂ that is captured in its production remains fixed throughout the life cycle of the final product.

Currently, over 150 brands worldwide have already adopted Green Plastic in packaging for the most diverse segments, such as food, personal hygiene, and durable goods. With the same properties, performance and versatility of polyethylene of fossil origin, renewable resin can be used in the same production chains of conventional plastic and recycling.

The Café Favorito packaging will use the I'm Green^TM label so consumers can recognize the application of Green Plastic in its composition. "To achieve the differentiator of featuring the seal, the product should contain at least 51% renewable material. The assessment is performed through a carbon-14 dating test, which aims to determine the age of fossil materials found across the world," explained Gustavo Sergi, Director of Renewable Chemicals at Braskem.

Braskem, the world's largest producer of biopolymers, has been producing polyethylene from renewable sources since 2010, at the Petrochemical Complex of Triunfo (RS). With a production capacity of 200,000 metric tons per year, this is the largest industrial unit of ethylene derived from ethanol on the planet.