Page 25 - Packaging News magazine March_April 2023

95 tonnes
of waste kept from landfill every year
cups into sleeves of eight, ready for packing into cases.
“The project has been in the works for over three years, but the develop- ment was delivered in 18 months. We’ve worked in partnership with Wellman Packaging to develop the cup right here in Australia,” Rajczyk said.
CEO of Wellman Packaging, Craig Wellman explained that the new cup represents a significant advancement over the pre-
vious cup, which was a poly coated, multi-wall, paper cup that was then inserted with an injection moulded polyethyl- ene tub to carry the powder, which together prevented recycling of the cup.
What Wellman Packaging has achieved is a mono-mate- rial PP solution, removing the recycling impediment.
“From a technical perfor- mance perspective, we have substantially improved the insu-
lation characteristics by virtue of
the external ribs, which are then wrapped by the PP label,” Wellman said.
“While the new cups are lighter over- all than the previous composite paper cups, they are sturdy enough and dishwasher safe to be reused multiple times at home, perhaps for hot bever- ages or collected for children’s parties,” Wellman added.
“The design of the cups, trademarked as Thermocup, using Wellman’s globally patented IsoTherm technology, repre- sents a major step forward compared to similar products on the market – given the depth and coverage of the iso-ribs which are extremely thin so as to mini- mise the part weight – something that a number of the most respected tool- makers in the world told us couldn’t be done,” he said.
The moulds were designed and built in Australia, with Wellman’s in-house design and engineering team developing the technology from concept.
PRODUCT TRIALS
Explaining what was involved in the product trial phase, Rajcyk said, “Once the plastic moulding tooling was
From a technical performance perspective, we have substantially improved the insulation characteristics by virtue of the external ribs, which are then wrapped by the PP label.
CRAIG WELLMAN, CEO, WELLMAN PACKAGING.
Above: Nestlé Professional’s multi-million dollar investment in its Smithtown, NSW factory will bolster local manufacturing. The new cups are sturdy enough to be reused multiple times.
developed, trial cups were then sent to the equipment supplier overseas, along with the foil seals, so that we could con- duct our factory acceptance testing on the cup filling production line, before the equipment was shipped to Australia. “Then the cups filled with chocolate powder were sent to our flow wrapping equipment manufacturer to trial that part of the line.
“Once all parts of the production line arrived in Australia, they were assem- bled to test production in sequence and synced with our bulk powder deliv- ery system, labelling machine, check weighers, coders and x-ray machines,” Rajcyk said.
Wellman said the project was deliv- ered with a “holistic, end-to-end approach”. This included not only the cup design itself but all associated injection moulds and special purpose equipment which has been integrated with an all-electric injection moulding machine from German machinery sup- plier, Arburg.
Working very closely with Nestlé and its partners, including machinery sup- plier JL Lennard, Wellman Packaging
has also designed, and will construct, the materials handling solution for the cups using returnable and reusable packaging, to provide a closed loop, turnkey solution and representing a fur- ther reduction in the carbon footprint of the project.
Taking this to the next important step, Wellman Packaging is develop- ing a closed-loop, food-grade recycling program for the cups, which it hopes in time, will allow the collection, recov- ery and reprocessing of cups back into new cups.
Wellman says its trademarked Isotherm technology holds broad application, including to other thin- wall packaging such as coffee cups and noodle tubs, and the company is already exploring opportunities in these areas.
Wellman Packaging is also in dis- cussions with its trading partners in Europe and the US for the use of the technology in their markets.
“We are extremely excited about the potential of the technology,” Wellman said, “and extremely proud to have part- nered with Nestlé Professional to bring this project to fruition.” ■
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FOOD & DRINK PACKAGING