While boosting green credentials can make a brand more attractive to consumers, cost savings can also result from a sustainable approach. German company Keienburg GmbH has developed an example of such an innovation with a can made of cardboard for carbonated drinks manufacturers, that enables both a greener and cheaper production process.
As reported by Packaging Europe, the patented multi-layered cardboard — launched at the end of 2011 — was developed to be suitable for most canned beverages, including beer, fruit juice, coffee and carbonated drinks. Keienburg supplies the complete can body production unit — a board reel and can top and ends — to beverage manufacturers who produce the cans directly at the filling lines. Current filling lines will only require small modifications to use the new material, which is cheaper to produce than aluminium and without the high transportation and storage costs of empty metal cans. A cardboard reel 4 x 0.5 feet will produce approximately 4,000 cans and will reportedly save drinks companies up to 30 percent in production costs. Consumers also benefit as beverages stay colder for longer in the cardboard container.
Source: springwise.comAdded: 24 January 2012