Wine bottle closures to be made using Braskem's green plastic in the United States

Nomacorc, the leading producer of alternative wine bottle closures in the United States, will launch the first closure made from Braskem's 100% renewable material

Braskem, the leading producer of thermoplastic resins in the Americas and the world's leading biopolymer producer, will launch the unprecedented use of green plastic (I'm greenTM Polyethylene) in wine bottle closures made by Nomacorc, the leading U.S. company in the segment. Called Select® Bio, the closures are 100% recyclable and feature the same oxygen management performance as the conventional line, while also preventing deterioration and waste caused by processes such as oxidation and reduction.  In this case, the green plastic works as an efficient drop-in replacement for cork, a material provided by special trees that can take up to decades to grow.

Braskem's I'm greenTM Polyethylene is made from ethylene derived from sugarcane ethanol. Its main advantage is that it helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, since it sequesters carbon dioxide during its production process. It also features the same properties as traditional polyethylene, which means that manufacturers do not have to change their machinery and that it can be recycled. To help consumers recognize the green plastic, Braskem created the "I'm greenTM" seal, which guarantees the renewable origin of the packaging.

"Braskem is a strong organization with a history of creating reliable, sustainable polymer materials for leading manufacturers around the world," said Olav Aagaard, Nomacorc's principal scientist. "By using Braskem's sugarcane based green polyethylene, we can confidently offer to our customers a carbon neutral wine closure which will not only be consistent and optimal for their wines, but now also allows them to create a more sustainable packaging solution."

"We were very excited that Nomacorc has chosen to develop a more sustainable solution using our green plastic," said Marco Jansen, Braskem's Renewable Chemicals Commercial Director for Europe and the United States. "Choices such as Nomacorc's attest to the high viability and excellent growth potential of this technology, which can be fully employed as a sustainable alternative to the use of fossil fuels," said Marco Jansen.

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