Amcor elevates beverage bottle circular economy with next-gen lightweighting tech

10 May 2022 --- Amcor Rigid Packaging is unveiling “next-generation” technology enabling bottles to be produced 30% lighter and with 100% recycled material. The bottles also boast a superior user experience, avoiding overflow spills when consumers open their beverages. 

By actively displacing the vacuum in the container after filling, PowerPost technology delivers a bottle nearly one-third lighter, with 30% energy reduction and 30% carbon savings over most 20 oz (600 ml) bottles available today.

“Our engineers have developed technology that pushes the boundaries of lightweighting in the hot-fill arena to help our customers meet their cost and [environmental] sustainability needs,” says Terry Patcheak, vice president of R&D, sustainability and project management at Amcor Rigid Packaging.

“This next-generation innovation will improve the consumer experience while addressing widespread commitments to reduce material use and lower greenhouse gas emissions.”

The new PowerPost technology was announced ahead of National Packaging Design Day in the US.

Advanced lightweighting tech
The company describes PowerPost as “the most advanced lightweighting technology for hot-fill beverages on the market today.”

PowerPost tech delivers a bottle almost one-third lighter.PowerPost builds on Amcor’s patented, vacuum-absorbing technology PowerStrap. The PowerPost base has two key technologies: an invertible, central post that actively displaces vacuum, and PowerStrap, the flexible ring surrounding the post.

After filling, the post is inverted to actively displace the vacuum inside the container and, as the product cools down, the surrounding ring flexes to passively absorb any remaining vacuum.

By eliminating the vacuum panels, PowerPost offers increased design freedom, premium appearance and consumer appeal while addressing environmental sustainability goals. Eliminating the panels in the body also drives operational improvements at the fillers. Bottle labels are applied more efficiently.

Recycled PET requirements
The PowerPost technology comes amid increasingly demanding recycled plastic requirements. The UK introduced its plastic packaging tax in April, enforcing a £200 (US$247) per metric ton levy on producers or importers if they do not include a minimum of 30% recycled content in plastic packaging.

Meanwhile, the EU’s Single Use Plastics Directive imposes a 90% collection rate for plastic beverage bottles by 2029 and a minimum of 25% recycled plastic in PET bottles from 2025, rising to 30% from 2030.According to Amcor’s Asset life cycle analysis, PET bottle production boasts 70% less GHGs than other materials.

Amcor says it provides strong know-how, advanced preform technology, high-quality containers and strong relationships with co-packers. It has pledged to develop all its packaging to be recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025.

PET preference
The packaging giant adds that PET has rapidly become “the world’s preferred packaging material.” It is lightweight, shatterproof, reclosable, resealable, reusable and infinitely recyclable with existing technologies, such as chemical recycling.

Moreover, PET bottles often have the lowest carbon footprint, and their production results in up to 70% less greenhouse gas emissions than other packaging materials, according to Amcor’s Asset life cycle analysis.

Last year, Amcor Rigid Packaging designed a container that collapses in a controlled way to maximize its width, enhancing the recyclability of small PET bottles. The new technology overcomes the common issue of smaller bottles, like 50 mL liquor bottles served on airplanes, becoming lost in the recycling process due to their size.

We recently explored the latest soft drinks packaging trends with Amcor Rigid Packaging and carton pack leaders SIG and Tetra Pak.

By Joshua Poole