In fact, O'Leary believes that manufacturers seeking more sustainable plastic packaging should look for innovative ways to reduce PET. Meredith-Springfield constructed pilot molds and conducted design experiments with the objective to reduce the amount of PET used in the creation of Mrs. Dash packaging.

Dishwashing liquid from I.C.E. For SpA employs bi-oriented bottles molded from HDPE to save 50% plastic usage versus traditional extrusion blow molded containers.

Incoplas is able to process bottles in a standard range of sizes up to one liter in capacity that are applicable in various market segments. Compared to equivalent extrusion blow molded (EBM) HDPE bottles, weight reduction potential of up to 50 percent is reportedly achievable. The SB 1359 resin features a unique molecular design capable of being processed on ISBM machines.

The new extrusion blowmolding machine produces more than 100,000 Mrs. Dash bottles in each 24-hour production period and is capable of delivering more than 35 million units per year. The machine is a one-step process for making specialty PET bottles versus a two-step process used to make carbonated beverage bottles. Beverage bottles typically require multiple steps first, a "perform" is molded in an injection molding machine and then transferred to a reheat-stretch machine.

"Our technology is the most energy-efficient method available," O'Leary said. "It goes from plastic pellets to finished bottles on one machine."

"We look at a package and we think outside the box - we don't take the existing package and just replicate it," Mel O'Leary, president and CEO of Meredith-Springfield, told PlasticsToday. "This package has been around 15 to 20 years and we didn't want to mess with its legacy, but we did feel that it was overweight and to drop that weight would provide a savings opportunity for the brand."

"We never single source," said Director of Global Procurement of B&G Foods Marty Schoch. "We always look at our alternatives and benchmark our current suppliers. Meredith-Springfield's customer service, exceptionally low defect level and willingness to conduct research and development set them apart from the competition."

"I think if molders would be more proactive with customers and try to add more value to customers, they would find it creates improved relations for the better and longer term," he said. "We think with this technology, we have hit a homerun and we're trying to extend that that type of expertise and program to other existing clients."

The Mrs. Dash bottles have undergone quite a makeover, but you might not notice it right away.A new packaging technology reduced the weight of a Mrs. Dash bottle by more than 25 percent. This in turn saves the brand B&G Foods, the owner of Mrs. Dash, an excess of 200,000 pounds of PET resin, along with a double-digit profit percentage.

"For Mrs. Dash, we are using the most advanced plastic molding technology to alter the amount of plastic and place PET only where it most impacts package performance," he said. "In reducing the weight, we carefully engineered the placement of remaining mass of plastic to go into the areas of the bottle which would maximize top-loading ability."

Processor Incoplas (Brussels, Belgium) has continuously invested in technical development aiming at weight reductions, while maintaining bottle performance and quality, for the past few years focusing on developing ISBM bottle production using bi-oriented HDPE. The compay employed Total’s HDPE SB 1359 grade to produce an extra-light bottle with excellent mechanical properties, soft touch, as well as transparency.

Meredith-Springfield Associates (Ludlow, MA), a plastics manufacturer specializing in extrusion blowmolding and injection stretch blow molding, pioneered the use of this new technology to manufacture this type of sustainable plastic packaging.

A new packaging technology reduced the weight of a Mrs. Dash bottle by more than 25 percent. This in turn saves the brand B&G Foods, the owner of Mrs. Dash, an excess of 200,000 pounds of PET resin, along with a double-digit profit percentage.

The first product packed with bi-oriented bottles injection stretch-blow molded (ISBM) from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is now available on the supermarket floor at Italian chain UNES. The grade was supplied by France’s Total and used to package a refill bottle containing dishwashing liquid.

B&G Foods rarely works with just one packaging supplier on a project, according to O'Leary. However, since the usage of the Meredith-Springfield's R&D on the entire redesign resulted in a significant cost-savings for B&G Foods, the company rethought that mindset.