PET resin, the raw material for PET bottles, consists of 30% monoethylene glycol (MEG) and 70% terephthalic acid (TPA). Since 2013, Suntory Group has been using plant-derived materials*4 for MEG in its Suntory Tennensui brand PET bottles. In this new challenge, the group has succeeded in producing TPA at a commercial scale by using paraxylene derived from used cooking oil, a biomass resource.
To achieve this, the group established a global supply chain in collaboration with corporations such as ENEOS Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation to procure bionaphtha derived from used cooking oil and ultimately produce PET bottles. Bionaphtha can be produced from the manufacturing process of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), among other things, and as SAF production is expected to increase, the importance of developing a bio-naphtha supply chain is also growing. Suntory Group aims to build a more robust mass production system for bio-based PET bottles in cooperation with stakeholders.