The lightweight packaging made of recycled material that can be readily recycled is a model of an optimally sustainable packaging from environmental and regulatory aspects.

After an intensive development phase, Greiner Packaging has achieved a breakthrough in cooperation with injection molding machine maker Engel and mold maker Brink: Thin-walled cups made of recycled PET can now also be produced using injection molding technology. Suitable for filling lines, sealable and offering considerable carbon dioxide savings potential, the breakthrough opens new opportunities for packaging designed for a circular economy.

Sebastian Diensthuber, Greiner Packaging’s global product group manager, is thrilled by the innovation. "When developing the thin-walled, injection-molded cups made of PET, it was important for us to develop a solution that was not only innovative but also able to withstand our customers' industrial requirements. 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”.

A global injection molder with toolmaking capabilities, Plastek (Erie, PA) has acquired Costapacking (Pirassununga, Brazil), which serves the food and beverage, personal care and home care industries of several Fortune 100 companies.

The use of 100% rPET results in up to a four-fold reduction in carbon dioxide equivalent emissions compared to virgin PP, according to data using the Ecoinvent v.3.9 database.

A full-service provider of injection molded parts, complex assemblies and advanced tooling for the rigid packaging sector with a global footprint, Plastek (Erie, PA) has acquired Costapacking, a custom injection molding company based in Pirassununga, Brazil. Costapacking serves the food and beverage, personal care and home care industries of several Fortune 100 companies.

In addition to its headquarters in Erie, PA, Plastek operates manufacturing facilities in Hamlett, NC; Mansfield, UK; Indaiatuba, Brazil; Queretaro, Mexico; and now Pirassununga, Brazil.

In the future, it won’t only be PET bottles that will serve as resource for recycling and reuse as rPET, but PET and rPET plastic cups as well.

“Costapacking’s approach to customers, employees, quality, service and technology is a natural fit for Plastek,” said Dennis Prischak, Plastek President and CEO, in a prepared statement. “This acquisition complements our organic growth as part of a balanced strategy for the future.”

Launched in 2000, Costapacking operates more than 30 injection molding machines ranging in size from 150 to 600 tons and employs approximately 300 people. Co-founder Rodrigo Costa will join Plastek in a business development capacity.

Greiner Packaging, Engel, and Brink combine forces to develop thin-walled injection-molded recycled PET (rPET) cups designed for a circular economy.