Russian oil major Gazprom Neft claims to have developed a technology for making biodegradable motor oil cartons that break down 20 times faster than conventional plastics.
The packaging has an organic component that dissolves in the environment much faster than plastic. The company said it will soon release of a test batch of oil in the new cartons from its lubricant blending and packaging plant in Omsk, Russia.
“We are not only creating new formulations and technologies for production of lubricants, but also we are actively involved in increased environmental friendliness during their use and storage,” Anatoly Skoromets, general director of Gazpromneft-Lubricants, said in the press release.
The company has already produced samples of cartons ranging from one to five liters – the sizes that are used most in the market, he said.
“The study of biodegradation of thick-walled plastic packaging was carried out for the first time – we have not found a similar experience anywhere in the world,” Piotr Pantyukhov, head of the laboratory for prospective composite materials and technologies at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, said in the news release.
“As a result of testing, the theory of the specialists employed in the Omsk lubricants plant of Gazprom Neft was confirmed,” Pantyukhov said. “After adding a component based on vegetable raw materials to the composition of the polymer carton, the time of natural decomposition of plastic was reduced from 400 to 20 years, while the strength of the packaging is preserved.”
Gazprom is patenting this technology for further industrial application, according to Skoromets.
“We are confident that its implementation will allow us to apply a qualitatively new approach to the creation of universal and environmentally friendly packaging,” he said.