Amcor Designs Lightest 900-ml PET Bottle for Brazilian Market

Lightweighting of packaging continues apace, as companies seek higher efficiencies in plastics processing and greater sustainability. Amcor in Ann Arbor, MI, a global developer and producer of packaging for food, beverage, pharmaceuticals, and other products, has developed the lightest 900-ml PET bottle for a customer in Brazil.

The custom-designed container for agribusiness and food producer Bunge, based in Sao Paulo, is 22% lighter than competitive bottles while providing greater productivity and increased sustainability benefits. The new bottle for Bunge’s oleo de soja Soya brand represents Amcor’s entry into the edible oil market in Brazil. The new PET container is resealable, reusable, and “infinitely recyclable” with existing technologies, including chemical recycling.

Amcor responded to the challenge from Bunge to develop a 14-gram container that weighs four grams less than standard bottles. “This new bottle is a huge technological achievement because we were able to replicate the current bottle’s shape and specifications but at a lighter weight,” said Ivan Assenco, Amcor’s R&D Process Coordinator. It was a “highly focused, three-year development project,” he added. In addition to designing a bottle with less plastic, new filling technologies had to be developed by Bunge to accommodate the new design.