Plastic Packaging

WINE BOTTLE WEIGHS ONLY 50 GRAMS

The global packaging specialist ALPLA has added a PET wine bottle to its product range. The 0.75-litre bottle weighs just 50 grams – around eight times less than the alternative made of glass. The first white wine bottles belonging to the Wegenstein winery recently went into circulation in the Austrian wine market, making them part of the Europe-wide bottle-to-bottle loop. The sustainable solution reduces carbon consumption by 38 per cent compared to the glass alternative – and that's even without rPET content.

Founded in 2022 by Mikhail Skalkin, Dr. Nikolay Semenov and Lev Bolshakov, with offices in the UK and Belgrade, Serbia, Bpacks’ R&D work is led by materials scientists Dr. Semenov and new head of innovation Dr. Aleksandra Nešić. It combines bark from timber production, used coffee grounds and other bio-based materials to create sheets and granules/pellets that can be used by packaging manufacturers to create a variety of materials.

Engineers at Newcastle University have developed a new glue that promises to change how we recycle.

Its reversible nature means it can be used for a multitude of purposes such as on the labels of bottles so that they are efficiently detached, making them easier to recycle. Labels will no longer need to be sent to landfill.

Husky Technologies, a technology provider enabling the delivery of essential needs to the global community, announced the launch of its next-generation HyPET®6e platform. Building upon the technology of the company’s flagship PET preform injection molding system, HyPET®6e is the ideal combination of proven technology and innovation engineered to work together to deliver new standards in sustainable molding. 

Various companies, including packaging suppliers, are increasingly utilizing the flexibility of 3D printing to explore new opportunities for themselves and their clients. Harpak-ULMA, for instance, now offers a nationwide 3D printing service tailored specifically for thermoform tray package prototyping. This service allows customers to easily, swiftly, and affordably customize their tray designs to suit specific marketing needs and preferences.

NEUE Water has been consciously conceived for today’s modern, on-the-go lifestyle. As well as its recycled content, the unique ergonomic flat shape of the bottle enables it to fit easily into pockets, bags and seatback storage in planes and trains. Equally important, the bottle’s sturdy construction makes it suitable for refilling for multiple use, and it can be recycled at its end of life.

Flexible film packaging structures primarily based on polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are increasingly advocated as effective tools for advancing mechanical recycling efforts, despite being commonly disposed of alongside mixed plastic waste for now. Recent material developments and the proliferation of conversion machines capable of stretching PE either uniaxially or biaxially suggest a growing adoption of these mono-material structures as easily recyclable flexible packaging solutions, provided appropriate collection systems are established.