Biobased plastics producer Origin Materials has begun commercial production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottle caps at its manufacturing center in Reed City, Michigan, the company said Feb. 20. 

The company expects its first proprietary Cap Former line to produce “hundreds of millions” of PET caps annually, said CEO and co-founder John Bissell in a press release. 

Origin Materials introduced its Cap Former system in September. 

“We are continually improving our technologies and manufacturing process techniques so that future lines will have even higher production rates and even better unit economics,” Bissell said.

Bissell added that the company is well positioned to take advantage of the $65 billion PET market. 

“Market interest and the strength of the overall demand for our caps continues to suggest we will be able to sell every cap we can make,” said Bissell. “We have multiple MOUs signed, with a growing list of prospects in the qualification phase, and a growing pipeline of new potential customers. We're looking forward to announcing additional MOUs along with customer names in the coming months.”