Plymouth Township-based Plastipak Packaging Inc. has partnered with Arizona Beverages to commercialize a new recyclable plastic bottle for the company’s products.
Created using its ThermoShape technology — a molding process that creates lightweight, recyclable bottles for beverages — and DiamondClear, a monolayer plastic structure that eliminates potential aesthetic and performance issues, Plastipak aimed to mimic the look and feel of Arizona’s glass bottles with the new packaging.
“When Arizona came to us with this challenge, we were confident that we had the right combination of solutions to be successful,” says Tim Eppinga, global vice president of Plastipak’s Food and Beverage category.
For the new container, he says Arizona wanted the ability to run the new bottle shape on its existing hot fill lines — a packaging process in the beverage industry that uses heat to produce products in shorter runs. As a result, Plastipak developed a smooth wall, hot fill, extended shelf life packaging in a lightweight, recyclable container.
Founded in 1967 to supply plastic five-gallon jugs for Plymouth Township-based Absopure Water Co., Plastipak is a wholly owned subsidiary of Plastipak Holdings Inc. The company, which has more than $2.4 billion in annual revenue, operates more than 37 locations in the United States, South America, and Europe, and has more than 5,000 employees.
