Amcor has released its first LiquiForm technology consumer package, targeting reduced supply chain costs.
The company says LiquiForm technology has the potential to improve packaging consistency and lower the carbon footprint associated with filling and packaging.
Amcor partnered with Greenblendz, a US-based co-packer and developer of private label, environmentally-friendly consumer products, to develop and commercialise packaging for the Nature’s PromiseTM brand of hand soap. Amcor produced its new 12oz polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle on a proprietary Amcor-built machine powered by the LiquiForm process. The new machine is the industry’s first manufacturing unit to successfully make use of the LiquiForm technology.
Steve Berry, founder of Greenblendz, says, “We’re excited to be a partner in the commercial validation of such a highly sustainable manufacturing process. LiquiForm technology delivers enormous efficiencies throughout the supply chain and improves the industry’s carbon footprint.”
LiquiForm technology uses the packaged product instead of compressed air to simultaneously form and fill containers. In this case, the hand soap essentially 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.
Ann O’Hara, vice president and general manager of Amcor Rigid Plastics’ Diversified Products Division, says, “LiquiForm has the potential to revolutionize the filling and packaging industries with a more flexible, efficient, and sustainable supply chain. 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.”
The company says 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, according to Amcor. 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 percent post-consumer recycled content, is a drop-in replacement for the current Nature’s Promise container and uses the existing closure and label.
