Greiner Packaging has developed a lightweight polypropylene cup for hot and cold filling that saves a significant amount of material, can be decorated to a high standard and enables the integration of QR codes or digital watermarks.
The Austrian dairy Ennstalmilch fills Greek yoghurt in various flavours. Greiner Packaging has now developed a cup for the yoghurt that saves 20 per cent material compared to previous processes. This is in response to market requirements and the Trend towards lightweight packaging, which can be decorated using IML technology.
Materialreduction as an approach for nnew Packaging
Aim of Greiner Packaging is to produce packaging with comparable functionality and improved recyclability than before with reduced weight to produce plastic from virgin material as well as CO2 to be saved. This is a sustainable approach - alongside the use of recycled materials, renewable raw materials and increasing the recyclability of packaging to up to 100 per cent.
Through weight reduction - thanks to Adaptation of the technical conditions in production - a material saving of 20 per cent was achieved with the new plastic cup for Greek yoghurt. However, this has no effect on the functionality of the cup or its suitability for logistics and filling lines. It is still possible to separate empty cups and stack sealed cups filled with food without any problems.
The plastic used, polypropylene (PP), is correspondingly for filling dairy products and other foodstuffs in a refrigerated environment or at room temperature designed. In addition, the CO2-footprint during transport is reduced accordingly due to the lower weight of the cups.
Lightweight cup with many design options
The lightweight PP cup also stands out in many respects when it comes to design: thanks to the in-mould labelling technology, i.e. the use of a label that forms a fixed bond with the cup during the manufacturing process, the cup has a high-quality appearance and stands out in the chiller cabinet.
In order to generate additional interaction with the consumer, you can Double-sided or interactive labels can be used. For example, competitions, promotions or similar consumer engagement campaigns can be realised by integrating a QR code or digital watermark. A wide range of surface effects can also be used, such as soft-touch, matt, ultra glossy, metallic, transparent or paper-like finishes.
Renewable raw materials are also an option
In the course of the increased use of renewable raw materials, Greiner Packaging also offers the use of bio-circular plastics which are produced from agricultural production waste, for example. Certification according to ISCC Plus (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) makes it possible to display the certificate on the packaging for Greiner Packaging customers if the customer is also certified as part of the value chain.
The customer can also use a polypropylene sealing plate so that the cup, IML label and sealing plate are made from the same material, which is another plus in terms of recyclability.
Source: Greiner Packaging
