Beijing-born biochemist drives PlantBottle breakthrough
By Vera Ye |
April 21, 2013, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Shell Huang, one of the world's leading polymer scientists, said her dream is to "grow a plastic bottle out of the field."
Huang was instrumental in developing Coca-Cola Co's PlantBottle?, fully recyclable packaging for beverages, to reduce the impact on the planet.
The Beijing native, who now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, was in Shanghai last Wednesday to help launch the bottle in China.
Coca-Cola has introduced more than 14 billion PlantBottles in more than 24 countries and regions since 2009. The company says the bottle has saved the equivalent of 300,000 barrels of oil and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 135,000 metric tons. It plans to replace all plastic bottles for beverages by 2020 worldwide.
With 30 percent of its material coming from plants, the bottle is made by converting sugars from sugarcane farmed in Brazil into polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, which is commonly used in the clear beverage bottles. "Our ultimate goal is a carbon-neutral bio-plastic bottle made 100 percent from agricultural waste materials," Huang told reporters in a group interview after the ceremony to launch the PlantBottle.
"It will seem like they can simply be grown from the ground ... It's my dream to grow a bottle out of a field," she said.
The Beijing native studied organic chemistry at Peking University and also received a master's degree in polymer chemistry there. In 1987 she went to the United States and obtained another master's in polymer chemistry from the University of Connecticut. She received a PhD in polymer science from the University of Akron in Ohio. She has worked for Coca-Cola since 2005.
Today Huang is research fellow and director of external technology acquisition at Coca-Cola. She previously led the company's packaging materials research group, which made the PlantBottle breakthrough.
Huang recalls that the idea of a bio-plastic bottle came up in a brainstorming session and she pushed for it, however, many people throughout the company rejected it because they did not understand the concept and its environmental benefits.
Huang kept promoting the idea with marketing, supply chain, procurement and legal affairs, without much success at the beginning.
"For many of them, I was just a strange Chinese woman talking about a fancy idea," Huang recalled.
Her big chance came at an operating committee meeting when she made short presentation to the company's top officials.
"Today I have 10 minutes to explain why PlantBottle is fundamentally good for our business and for our planet. It's very simple and everybody can understand. If you don't understand that is because you are looking at your Blackberry," she began, using humor to get her message across. Her listeners were hooked. She made a simple presentation about bio-plastics and their environmental value, using only three slides.
She believed it was that 10-minute introduction that turned things around.
"Reflecting back, I think I was the catalyst for the PlantBottle innovation at an early stage by connecting the dots externally to leverage external technologies, and connecting the dots internally by explaining to people why PlantBottle is the future for our long-term sustainable packaging," Huang wrote in an article about her PlantBottle innovation journey.
In addition to promoting the PlantBottle, Huang holds more than 30 international patents.
Q: Please explain more about the benefits of PlantBottle.
A: The bottle made from plant-based plastic instead of petroleum actually reduces the carbon footprint. Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air through photosynthesis. When you make bottles from plants, the CO2 in atmosphere, which is the cause of many environmental issues, is "fixed" in bottles. It is recycled and not released back to into the air.
Q: What has made you so successful?
A: It's the combination of my passion for my profession and the ability to communicate. I love my major in polymer materials and I have been throwing myself into it for years, even when some schoolfellows gave up and turned to computers or accounting that were more popular and profitable.
Communication skills are also important, especially in Coca-Cola, which is such a big firm. I would have no chance to commercialize laboratory findings if I couldn't persuade other people to support my ideas.
Q: Why chemistry?
A: I have been interested in chemistry since I was a high school student. I want to make a difference through science. It's fulfilling to create new chemical molecules and materials. Just think that something exists because of you. So fascinating!
Q: How does your family react to your science career?
A: I am very lucky that my chemist husband has always been supportive. He spends more time looking after our family than I do and never complains about my frequent business trips. My two sons also understand my work. I was very touched when Daniel, my younger teenage son, said in a video created for Mother's Day by Coca-Cola that "she invented a bottle. That's really great. I will be glad to follow in her footsteps."
Q: What's your advice to young Chinese women who want to be very successful in their careers?
A: Do what you love. As Confucius says, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." It's also important to balance career and family. If you pursued a career without having a supportive family, then your life would probably not be sustainable in the long run.
Huang was instrumental in developing Coca-Cola Co's PlantBottle?, fully recyclable packaging for beverages, to reduce the impact on the planet.
The Beijing native, who now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, was in Shanghai last Wednesday to help launch the bottle in China.
Coca-Cola has introduced more than 14 billion PlantBottles in more than 24 countries and regions since 2009. The company says the bottle has saved the equivalent of 300,000 barrels of oil and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 135,000 metric tons. It plans to replace all plastic bottles for beverages by 2020 worldwide.
With 30 percent of its material coming from plants, the bottle is made by converting sugars from sugarcane farmed in Brazil into polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, which is commonly used in the clear beverage bottles. "Our ultimate goal is a carbon-neutral bio-plastic bottle made 100 percent from agricultural waste materials," Huang told reporters in a group interview after the ceremony to launch the PlantBottle.
"It will seem like they can simply be grown from the ground ... It's my dream to grow a bottle out of a field," she said.
The Beijing native studied organic chemistry at Peking University and also received a master's degree in polymer chemistry there. In 1987 she went to the United States and obtained another master's in polymer chemistry from the University of Connecticut. She received a PhD in polymer science from the University of Akron in Ohio. She has worked for Coca-Cola since 2005.
Today Huang is research fellow and director of external technology acquisition at Coca-Cola. She previously led the company's packaging materials research group, which made the PlantBottle breakthrough.
Huang recalls that the idea of a bio-plastic bottle came up in a brainstorming session and she pushed for it, however, many people throughout the company rejected it because they did not understand the concept and its environmental benefits.
Huang kept promoting the idea with marketing, supply chain, procurement and legal affairs, without much success at the beginning.
"For many of them, I was just a strange Chinese woman talking about a fancy idea," Huang recalled.
Her big chance came at an operating committee meeting when she made short presentation to the company's top officials.
"Today I have 10 minutes to explain why PlantBottle is fundamentally good for our business and for our planet. It's very simple and everybody can understand. If you don't understand that is because you are looking at your Blackberry," she began, using humor to get her message across. Her listeners were hooked. She made a simple presentation about bio-plastics and their environmental value, using only three slides.
She believed it was that 10-minute introduction that turned things around.
"Reflecting back, I think I was the catalyst for the PlantBottle innovation at an early stage by connecting the dots externally to leverage external technologies, and connecting the dots internally by explaining to people why PlantBottle is the future for our long-term sustainable packaging," Huang wrote in an article about her PlantBottle innovation journey.
In addition to promoting the PlantBottle, Huang holds more than 30 international patents.
Q: Please explain more about the benefits of PlantBottle.
A: The bottle made from plant-based plastic instead of petroleum actually reduces the carbon footprint. Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air through photosynthesis. When you make bottles from plants, the CO2 in atmosphere, which is the cause of many environmental issues, is "fixed" in bottles. It is recycled and not released back to into the air.
Q: What has made you so successful?
A: It's the combination of my passion for my profession and the ability to communicate. I love my major in polymer materials and I have been throwing myself into it for years, even when some schoolfellows gave up and turned to computers or accounting that were more popular and profitable.
Communication skills are also important, especially in Coca-Cola, which is such a big firm. I would have no chance to commercialize laboratory findings if I couldn't persuade other people to support my ideas.
Q: Why chemistry?
A: I have been interested in chemistry since I was a high school student. I want to make a difference through science. It's fulfilling to create new chemical molecules and materials. Just think that something exists because of you. So fascinating!
Q: How does your family react to your science career?
A: I am very lucky that my chemist husband has always been supportive. He spends more time looking after our family than I do and never complains about my frequent business trips. My two sons also understand my work. I was very touched when Daniel, my younger teenage son, said in a video created for Mother's Day by Coca-Cola that "she invented a bottle. That's really great. I will be glad to follow in her footsteps."
Q: What's your advice to young Chinese women who want to be very successful in their careers?
A: Do what you love. As Confucius says, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." It's also important to balance career and family. If you pursued a career without having a supportive family, then your life would probably not be sustainable in the long run.
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