Injection Molding of Thin-Walled rPET Cups is Now Possible

Greiner Packaging, Engel, and Brink combine forces to develop thin-walled injection-molded recycled PET (rPET) cups designed for a circular economy.

After an intensive development phase, Greiner Packaging has achieved a breakthrough in cooperation with injection molding machine maker Engel and mold maker Brink : Thin-walled cups made of recycled PET can now also be produced using injection molding technology. Suitable for filling lines, sealable and offering considerable carbon dioxide savings potential, the breakthrough opens new opportunities for packaging designed for a circular economy. Molds For Injection

Injection Molding of Thin-Walled rPET Cups is Now Possible

Key benefits of the technology:

Thin-walled injection-molded cups, which until now were molded using polypropylene (PP), can now be produced from rPET.

The use of 100% rPET results in up to a four-fold reduction in carbon dioxide equivalent emissions compared to virgin PP, according to data using the Ecoinvent v.3.9 database .

The thin, injection-molded cups have an even wall thickness distribution for uniform quality and appearance.

The lightweight packaging made of recycled material that can be readily recycled is a model of an optimally sustainable packaging from environmental and regulatory aspects.

The injection-molded cups can be decorated by in-mold labeling aka IML.

Sebastian Diensthuber, Greiner Packaging’s global product group manager, is thrilled by the innovation. "When developing the thin-walled, injection-molded cups made of PET, it was important for us to develop a solution that was not only innovative but also able to withstand our customers' industrial requirements. The cups we developed together with Brink and Engel are designed in such a way that a transition to the new generation of cups is possible, both in filling and sealing”.

In the future, it won’t only be PET bottles that will serve as resource for recycling and reuse as rPET, but PET and rPET plastic cups as well.

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