Amcor has commercialised the first consumer packaging using its new LiquiForm technology.
Amcor has partnered with Greenblendz, a Michigan, US-based co-packer to develop and commercialise packaging (a 12oz PET bottle) for the Nature’s Promise brand of hand soap on a proprietary Amcor-built machine powered by the LiquiForm process - the industry’s first manufacturing unit to successfully utilise the LiquiForm technology.
“We’re excited to be a partner in the commercial validation of such a highly sustainable manufacturing process,” said Steve Berry, founder and COO of Greenblendz.
According to Amcor, LiquiForm technology has the potential to improve packaging consistency and lower the carbon footprint associated with filling and packaging. LiquiForm uses the packaged product instead of compressed air to simultaneously form and fill containers.
Amcor developed the LiquiForm concept in 2006, and then set up a joint venture which owns the patented LiquiForm technology and related intellectual property.
In 2016, Amcor partnered with German packaging equipment manufacturer Krones to further develop and commercialise LiquiForm’s forming and filling manufacturing technology. Subsequently, it formed a partnership with KHS.
In this latest developmen with Greenblendz, the Nature’s Promise hand soap (pictured above) forms its own rigid PET container using the LiquiForm process. By combining the forming and filling into one step, the process eliminates costs associated with the equipment and energy of the traditional blow-moulding process along with the handling, transport, and warehousing of empty containers.
“LiquiForm has the potential to revolutionise the filling and packaging industries with a more flexible, efficient, and sustainable supply chain,” Ann O’Hara, vice president and general manager of Amcor Rigid Plastics’ Diversified Products Division, said.
“The development and launch of the first commercial manufacturing machine and the introduction of the first commercial product represents two major milestones for the LiquiForm technology.”
A sustainable future
The forming of bottles with Amcor’s LiquiForm process also opens new pathways toward lighter, more sustainable packaging.
Lighter weight containers, achieved through improved consistency in wall thickness, combined with a reduction in the transport of empty containers, reduces environmental emissions and lowers the carbon footprint.
The LiquiForm process also offers the potential to reconfigure supply chains and move packaging closer to the market, resulting in strong logistical benefits and further carbon footprint reductions.
The bottle, which contains 50 per cent post-consumer recycled (PCR) content, is a drop-in replacement for the current Nature’s Promise container and uses the existing closure and label.
