Origin Materials and IMDvista have formed a strategic partnership with their sights set on the ‘world’s first’ commercial-scale PET cap and closure manufacturing system, aiming to unlock design-for-recycling for bottles.
In a collaborative effort stemming over more than twelve months, the companies have worked to develop a ‘high-throughput’ production system for PET caps and closures.
Origin’s mono-PET cap can apparently extend a product’s shelf life, improve recyclability, and enable manufacturers to lightweight their packaging. At the same time, it expects to meet the needs of the global cap and closures market, thought to be worth over $65 billion.
Upon its development, the solution aimed to achieve 100% recyclability for PET bottles, both their bodies and caps; improve their post-consumer recycling process; and help packaging manufacturers design for recycling and circularity while improving their performance.
Now the development of a running production line hopes to ‘solv[e] the most difficult sustainability challenges’ and contribute to the packaging industry’s transition into sustainability-minded materials.
“Best-in-class manufacturing partners like IMD are providing subsystems for our production line,” said John Bissell, co-CEO and co-founder of Origin Materials. “Together we are doing something nobody has done before: we are building the world’s first commercial-scale PET cap and closure manufacturing system.
“Our high-throughput system will allow us to bring the recycling, sustainability, and performance benefits of our PET cap and closure solution to the world. We plan to bring many such production lines online, not only to make beverage packaging better and fully recyclable, but containers of nearly every kind.
“IMD is an excellent partner for Origin as we build our first production line. They are a global leader in high-speed testing systems, headquartered in Switzerland with locations around the world including the United States, Germany, and Taiwan with systems in use on every continent.
“Their advanced camera systems inspect thousands of closures per minute and give us the ability to inspect billions of caps per year. We are excited to partner with IMD and grateful for their contributions as we launch the first-ever PET cap and closure manufacturing system.”
Martin Gerber, IMD’s chief sales officer, continued: “At the end of the day, a PET closure is the right solution. I see no reason why this closure will not be successful.
“IMD is investing significantly in support of inspection and handling for PET caps, and we are aware that this investment will pay off very quickly.”
“We look forward to showing our PET caps alongside the IMD team at their booth during the upcoming NPE2024 conference in Orlando, Florida,” Bissell added.
Previously, Origin and Avantium combined their technology platforms to turn wood residues into FDCA – a key building block in the production of PEF – at industrial scale. The partnership sought to increase PEF supplies and use it to produce bottles, films, and other forms of packaging.
ROTZINGER Group also revealed its FLK/VRM Filling & Capping machine last year. It combines the operations or a linear filler and rotative capper in a bid to maximize flexibility and efficiency, and can be adjusted to suit different formats.
If you liked this story, you might also enjoy:
The Brief: How viable is biorecycling for plastics?
Report: How the top brands are progressing on packaging sustainability
The Brief: Using ocean-bound plastic in packaging – how, why and should we?
No comments yet