Self-separating cardboard-plastic cup for yogurt packaging

Greiner Packaging, Molkerei Forster and Lidl Schweiz collaborated to introduce sustainable cardboard-plastic combination – self-separating K3 r100 from Greiner Packaging, for Milbona brand natural yogurt packaging sold by Lidl Schweiz.

Packaging for Milbona brand yogurt uses self-separating cardboard-plastic combination.

Easier separation for smoother recycling

K3 r100 packaging allows cardboard and plastic to separate from each other without human intervention. This innovation lays the foundation for future collection systems in Switzerland.

Sample of K3 r100 packaging.

Previously, cardboard and plastic had to be separated manually. With K3 r100, cardboard wrap and plastic cup can be separated by mechanical pressure. The two parts are then identified, assigned to separate recycling streams and consequently recycled. Smoother sorting flow in packaging recycle and outstanding recyclability of the packaging is resulted.

Collaboration fostering innovation

Greiner Packaging and Molkerei Forster have benefited from a partnership-based cooperation for many years.

For example, in 2021, Molkerei Forster was one of the first companies in Switzerland to use the new Greiner Packaging design: a recess in the cardboard wrap allows easy separation from the plastic cup with just one movement.

Close collaboration was also required while developing the K3 r100, in which numerous filling tests of the packaging innovation took place at Molkerei Forster.

“Without good partners like Molkerei Forster, innovations such as our K3 r100 would not be possible. Before we brought the cup to market, we perfected it in numerous filling tests - including on Molkerei Forster’s systems,” stated Antonios Kampouris, Sales Director of Greiner Packaging.