The conversion process takes place in three steps:
• LanzaTech captures industrial carbon emissions and converts them into ethanol using a unique biological process.
• Total, thanks to an innovative dehydration process jointly developed with IFP Axens, converts the ethanol into
ethylene before polymerizing it into polyethylene that has the same technical characteristics as its fossil
counterpart.
• L’Oréal uses this polyethylene to produce packaging with the same quality and properties as conventional
polyethylene.
It is a technological and industrial first proving that industrial carbon emissions can be used to produce plastic
packaging and paves the way to the development of a sustainable circular economy for plastics and new opportunities for the capture and re-use of industrial carbon emissions.
The partners now intend to continue working together on scaling the production of these sustainable plastics and look
forward to working with all those who want to join them in committing to the use of these new sustainable plastics.
LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren said: “This partnership is based on a shared goal of creating a cleaner planet for
everyone. We are grateful to both L’Oréal and Total for their commitment to reducing the carbon intensity of their
activities. Together, we can reduce the carbon footprint of packaging by converting carbon emissions into useful
products, making single-use carbon a thing of the past.”