Dairy farmers from our region now pack school milk in unprinted cups made from 100% recycled PET, so-called rPET cups.
After their use, the cups are recycled. From the recycled material, new sustainable cups are made. The initiative has received the WorldStar Award, the Green Packaging Star Award and the TRIGOS Award as an exemplary project.
A closed recycling loop:
Sustainable, produced regionally & safe for food contact.
School milk 100 % from Upper Austria.
The future tastes great.
Awarded with Green Packaging Star 2021, TRIGOS 2021 and the WorldStar Award 2022
100% recyclable rPET!
Thanks to the reduced material use they have a smaller CO2 footprint than conventional packaging solutions.
Plastics do not have a good reputation in the public eye. With recycled plastics, however, high packaging quality meets an excellent eco-balance. The rPET cup is a local product that is 100% recyclable. In comparison to glass bottles, rPET cups need less energy throughout production, they are lighter and require less energy to be cleaned. Overall, the new rPET cups cause one-third less CO2 emissions than glass bottles.
In addition, no “new plastics“ are being used. Therefore, not only the material but also the recycling loop makes our rPET cups the most sustainable alternative! This recycling loop is economical, as it creates added value in the region and makes efficient use of resources. The social aspect of recycling education and the promotion of regional agriculture complements the sustainable model.
Support for regional agriculture, environmental education, culture, recycling education, high-quality food, strengthening the region
Regional product, CO2 efficiency, 100% recyclable packaging, material saving, regional recycling, environmental protection
Resource efficiency, circular economy, Austrian quality, regional added value, cooperation along the entire value chain
School milk producers in Austria directly supply schools and kindergartens with milk products in rPET cups.
After their use, the cups are returned for recycling.
School milk producers from Upper Austria fill their products into rPET cups, deliver these to the schools and take the used packaging back. The recycled material is then used to produce sustainable cups again. The cups are fully recyclable since they are not printed nor coated with other plastics.
A closed recycling loop for school milk packaging has been created. Consumers, farmers, project partners, and packaging manufacturers work together to complete the recycling loop and avoid creating new plastic waste.
Would you like to know more about school milk in rPET cups? We always keep an open ear for your concerns and questions.
“We are pleased that after a short time we got almost all the cups back from the schools and kindergartens. Many teachers and school staff are happy that we are recycling the packaging and creating a school milk cup loop. With the rPET packaging we can avoid several tons of plastic waste per year.”
“We deliver our products to 30 schools and kindergartens in the Wels Land area. All the school principals were looking forward to the new cups. For us, it is a very pleasant feeling that we now have a cup recycling loop, which helped to significantly reduce the amount of waste in our company.
“It is a very good feeling to process the milk from our cows ourselves and to directly provide it to our customers in one of the most sustainable packaging options. In this way, the customer also becomes part of the loop."
“The packaging design influences how easily packaging can be recycled. The white, unprinted cup which we use is ideally recyclable."
“Food packaging made from white PET is a valuable secondary raw material. Our vision is to establish the collection and recycling of white rPET.”
“The cleaning efficiency of Starlinger viscotec systems is so good, that recycled PET can be used for all types of food packaging without hesitation. In this case from cup to cup – that is true recycling.”
The school milk dairy farmers deliver their dairy products to schools and collect the used packaging.
The rPET cup material is recycled and perfectly cleaned on systems from Starlinger viscotec.
PET-MAN recycles the used rPET cups and produces rPET sheet from them.
The packaging manufacturer Greiner Packaging thermoforms the rPET sheet into new cups.