Page 34 - Plastics News January 2018

CompAny news

McDonald's tosses EPS cups and Evonik Invests In Danish Start-

trays Up Hpnow

cDonald's Corporation is ditching expanded polystyrene vonik has invested
Mfor good around the globe. Ein the startup
Just weeks after another call for the company to HPNow ApS through
reconsider its use of EPS in cold beverage cups and trays, its venture capital
the Oakbrook, Ill.-based company now indicates foam unit and now holds
products will be eliminated by the end of 2018. News a minority stake in
of the latest move comes after McDonald's transitioned the company, which
from foam to paper coffee and hot beverage cups a few is headquartered
years ago. As You Sow, a shareholders advocacy group in Cope n h a ge n
interested in environmental issues, recently refiled a (Denmark). As part
resolution asking the company to assess the impact of of its venture capital
EPS. This same proposal received nearly one-third support activities, Evonik plans to invest a total of €100 million
from shareholders last year. But McDonald's is tackling the in promising start-ups with innovative technologies and
issue before the matter can be put to shareholders at an in leading specialized venture capital funds.
upcoming annual meeting.
PNow has developed a technology for producing
McDonald's EPS decision comes with a backdrop of a larger Hhydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in a fully automatic
battle regarding the use of the material as municipalities system using water, air, and an electric current. The
debate the issue. Industry forces call EPS recyclable and transaction took place in the context of a Series A round
say the material is, indeed, recycled. But opponents say of financing. The parties have agreed not to disclose the
the material is just too difficult to handle or not recyclable amount of the investment. Evonik will be represented
on a large scale as a practical matter. EPS, unlike its rigid by a seat on the company’s supervisory board. “HPNow
PS cousin, is made up of about 98 percent air. It's light can facilitate a breakthrough in the electrochemical
weight and bulk present recycling challenges compared production of hydrogen peroxide,” says Bernhard Mohr,
to some other plastics. McDonald's, on the company's head of Venture Capital at Evonik. “Evonik possesses a
website, indicates "the environmental impact of our great deal of expertise and extensive experience in the
packaging is a top priority." "We also plan to eliminate
hydrogen peroxide business, so we’re an ideal match
for HPNow.”
With an annual capacity of more than 950,000 metric
tons and 13 production plants, Evonik is one of the
world’s largest producers of hydrogen peroxide. The
HPNow technology solution enables low concentration
H2O2 production on demand, directly at the intended
point of use, and using only electricity, water and air as
feedstock. The system is based on a modular generator
in which a proprietary electrocatalytic cell is used to
produce hydrogen peroxide from water and oxygen
in a single step. “This patented technology offers
the possibility of cost-efficient provision of hydrogen
foam packaging from our global system by the end of 2018. peroxide as needed, directly at the customer’s point
While about 2 percent of our packaging, by weight, is
currently foam, we believe this small step is an important of use,” says Michael Träxler, head of Evonik’s Active
one on our journey. These actions represent successes Oxygens Business Line. “The investment supports our
that will continue to raise the bar for our system and our strategy of supplying our customers with tailored system
industry," the company said. solutions.”

Plastics News Januar y 2018 34