After an intensive development phase, Greiner Packaging has achieved a breakthrough in cooperation with injection molding machine manufacturer ENGEL and mold maker Brink B.V. that thin-walled cups made of rPET can now also be produced using injection molding technology.

They are suitable for filling lines, sealable and have considerable CO2e savings potential. Thus, the cooperation opens up new opportunities for packaging designed for a circular economy.

Strong availability, food-grade status and high quality - these properties make rPET the material of choice when it comes to sustainable packaging. Until now, however, PET has mostly only been used for thermoforming applications and for injection-molded bottles and cans.

Injection-molded cups with thin walls have been realized mainly with PP, which to date has - mechanically recycled - not received a positive EFSA opinion. Therefore, use of recycled PET in injection molding opens up new possibilities, especially for food applications.

Thin-walled injection molding cups, which were previously realized using PP, can now be produced from rPET.

Injection-molded cups that were thus far made out of PP can now also be offered in up to 100% rPET - an advantage of which being up to four times less CO2e emissions compared to other materials.

Manufacturing the cups using the injection molding process ensures that the thickness of the walls of the cups is especially uniform, as the plastic is distributed evenly in the mold during injection - an essential aspect in terms of top load, quality and appearance. The injection-molded cups can be decorated by means of IML (in-mold labeling).

"When developing the thin-walled, injection-molded cups made of PET, it was particularly important for us to develop a solution that was not only innovative but also able to withstand our customers' industrial requirements," shared Sebastian Diensthuber, Global Product Group Manager, Greiner Packaging. "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."

Greiner Packaging has proven its innovative strength by creating a new way to produce PET cups with up to 100 % recycled material in injection molding. Furthermore, this development proves the potential that cross-industry cooperation has for the realization of a circular economy.

The company believes that it won’t only be bottles made of PET that will serve as source material for new packaging in the future. Packaging of all kinds should find its way back into the cycle (tray-to-tray recycling). For example, a plastic cup should become a plastic cup again in the future.