Plastipak introduces the ultimate eco-friendly 'EcoPreform'. Building on its unrivalled recycling expertise as well as its BioPET capability, Plastipak sets a new standard in environmentally friendly PET packaging with preforms & bottles consisting of 75% RPET & 25% BioPET. The RPET as well as the BioPET are produced by Plastipak.

RECYCLING

REDUCING WASTE

RECLAIMING

DELIVERING

Plastipak Packaging, a leading manufacturer of rigid plastic containers for the food, beverage, and consumer products industries, today broke ground on a major expansion to its Clean Tech plastic recycling facility in Dundee, MI. The expansion makes room for the installation of additional advanced plastic recycling processing technology, and further increases the availability of ultra-clean recycled PCR PET plastic resin for Plastipak's consumer product industry customers. With recycling capacity now in place in all of the global regions in which it operates, Plastipak expects to recycle about 5 billion plastic bottles this year. The expansion also supports Plastipak's strategic goal of recycling 10 billion plastic bottles annually within five years. Plastipak founded Clean Tech in 1988. The site's current expansion benefited from tax abatements approved by the Dundee Village Council and is expected to be complete later this year. It is truly a win-win-win for Plastipak, the community, and the environment.

• Plastipak benefits from additional production capacity for ultra-clean PCR PET plastic resin. This form of resin is now increasingly in demand by Plastipak's customers because retail consumers prefer to see more recycled content in the product packaging on their local store shelves.

The community benefits from additional investment and employment opportunities:

• The expansion will add as many as 100 direct jobs at the facility over the next five years based on community collection programs, plus construction jobs during the start-up phase.

• Potentially thousands of additional Michigan jobs will be created due to the expansion of the end market for recycled plastic. If investments are made to enhance local curbside and other recycling programs, studies show that increasing Michigan's recycling rate to the regional average would create as many as 13,000 new jobs and as much as $300 million in payroll for Michigan residents.

• The environment benefits as plastic that might otherwise end up in landfills will be reused. This recycling process further enables Plastipak to reduce the company's overall energy use and carbon footprint significantly.

Guests who helped Plastipak and Clean Tech mark this important milestone represented both local and state government and included State Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, Dundee Village Manager Bob Hamilton, Finance Director Robin Moon, and Engineer Mick Vargas. Representatives of Plastipak's affiliate Absopure Water Company, a strategic partner and customer of Clean Tech's bottle collection and recycled plastic production, also attended the ceremony.

First Public ThermoShape™ Presentation
Plastipak recently presented its patented, revolutionary ThermoShape™ technology for the first time publicly at NOVA-PACK's 27th International Conference on PET Containers for Food & Beverages. Having commissioned the first two ThermoShape™ filling lines in the United Arab Emirates and France, Plastipak Packaging presented and discussed its new breakthrough packaging solution for the first time at a public forum at the NOVA-PACK 2011 Conference.

Director of Technology
Plastipak's director of technology integration, Jean-Guy Delage, conducted the presentation, which included both a 3D animation of the ThermoShape™ process and an on-site video clip of an industrial operation.

ThermoShape™ Advantages
ThermoShape™ technology includes the following significant advantages over alternative packaging options for the global non-refrigerated, high acid-sensitive food and beverage market segments:

Hot fill is a risk-free, inexpensive conventional filling technology which, unlike "wet" aseptic solutions, does not require chemical decontamination or sterile water rinsing of decontaminated containers and closures.

PROCESSORS CAN USE EXISTING hot fill process lines to fill PET containers that are 30% lighter, or even lighter still, than with conventional hot fill bottling lines.

VACUUM PANELS and other vacuum-resistant features necessary for conventional PET hot fill processes are eliminated, giving bottlers greater freedom to design attractive packages.

An Attractive Alternative
For processors currently considering or using aseptic and other packaging solutions, hot filling with ThermoShape™ offers a new viable and economically attractive alternative. Compared with aseptic cold filling methods, it requires less capital investment, a less rigorous level of technical training, and avoids chemical decontamination. It further eliminates stringent filling conditions and the possibility of product re-contamination during filling and capping.

Global Attention
For these and other reasons, ThermoShape™ technology attracts the attention of food and beverage processors worldwide.

DuPont's 23rd Awards for Packaging Innovation honored Plastipak for a cost-cutting, more efficient technology for hot fill processing, ThermoShape™. This technology supports a new lightweight PET container for hot fill beverages. ThermoShape™ makes it possible to use 20% less material without the need for vacuum panels, and with no impact on the performance of the bottle.

"The nominees and winners this year show how sustainability considerations are driving innovation," Shanna Moore, global director of sustainability at DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers, said in a news release. "We see how sustainability takes many shapes, ranging from use of organic or renewable materials to the relentless drive to reduce waste and weight."

Plastipak shares the excitement DuPont expressed by recognizing a broad field of admirable advances in sustainable packaging solutions. Winning entries included innovations such as packaging trays made with renewable bamboo and bulrush fiber-based material. This new package, the judges felt, pushed the boundaries of pulp trays, reducing both cost and material weight. It is also easier to open and offers more room for marketing-related graphics.

Another packager won praise for its mushroom seeds-to-packaging product, which is grown from mycelium and regionally sourced agricultural byproducts such as cotton burrs and oat hulls. The package is made of ultra-rapidly renewable resources and is completely compostable. The jury found it to be a cost-effective, sustainable replacement for expanded polystyrene or other materials used in protective packaging.

According to DuPont, the trends among the 2011 award recipients bear out the results of a recent DuPont online survey of packaging professionals. Survey respondents picked sustainability as the top challenge facing the packaging industry, closely followed by cost concerns.

"Nearly all of the winning innovations related to reducing waste in the system," jury panel head John Bernardo, a principal at Sustainable Innovations, said. "The jury could see a much deeper consideration of sustainability concerns, starting with responsible sourcing and thoughtful package design, all the way to end-of-life factors."