RETHINKING WASTE

As sustainability pressures increase and resource scarcity becomes an industrial reality, remanufacturing is emerging as a cornerstone of the circular economy. No longer confined to refurbished electronics or remoulded car parts, the scope of remanufacturing is expanding. It is reshaping how we design, manufacture, and reuse materials across sectors. Nowhere is this shift more evident than in the packaging industry, where innovations in simulation and materials science are enabling companies to dramatically reduce waste while delivering uncompromised performance.

At the forefront of this transformation are projects like EcoCup and EcoTray. The first focused on material usage for coffee capsules, and the latter, addressing medical-grade aluminium tray production. These initiatives demonstrate the profound potential of digital design and predictive modelling to bring recycled aluminium back into high-performance use in food and beverage packaging.

From EcoCup to EcoTray: Simulation as a Circular Enabler
Both EcoCup and EcoTray address the same fundamental challenge: how to reliably remanufacture precision formed aluminium packaging using downgauged, high-recycled-content materials without compromising structural integrity, aesthetics, or compliance with strict regulatory and food safety standards.

Traditionally, forming such components through deep drawing, which shapes flat metal into precise, hollow forms, has relied on conventional, high purity aluminium and iterative physical prototyping. This results in high scrap rates, excess energy use, and costly development cycles. In contrast, these two projects use simulation driven remanufacturing to accelerate development and significantly reduce waste.

In EcoCup, the focus is on the growing coffee capsule market, where aluminium remains the material of choice for its barrier properties and recyclability. Using up to 90% recycled aluminium, the project demonstrated 10% material downgauging while maintaining capsule performance and visual identity. The anisotropic mechanical behaviour of recycled alloys was captured through tensile testing and integrated into finite element models. This enabled us to simulate the deep drawing process with high precision.

EcoTray, developed by the University of Twente and Amcor, was initiated after observing EcoCup’s, demonstrated potential and applies the same approach to medical-grade aluminium trays. It targets a transition from 160 micrometres to 130 micrometres using at least 30% recycled content.
With realistic tribological models and advanced friction characterisation, EcoTray, supports the use of thinner, lower-carbon materials. This leads to a reduction in raw material usage by nearly 20% and enables trays to be produced from low-carbon aluminium of 5 kilograms of CO2 per kilogram or less. Most importantly, the simulation framework predicts forming defects before they occur, eliminating much of the trial and-error and tool rework that typically characterises conventional manufacturing.

Together, these projects highlight the power of data-driven remanufacturing. They showcase a methodology that links virtual validation with real-world outcomes, allowing manufacturers to make sustainable design decisions early in the process and scale them efficiently.

From Single-Use Thinking to Systemic Circularity
These innovations also align with broader shifts in consumer and regulatory expectations. While packaging may appear to be inherently single-use, the principles behind its transformation — reuse, downgauging, and smart material usage — mirror those reshaping business models from linear to a circular approach. What unites these trends is a push for producing high-quality products with longer product lifespans, reduced material dependency, and greater transparency around production impact.

By converting recycled aluminium into high-performance components that match or exceed virgin standards, EcoCup and EcoTray, show how remanufacturing can become a strategic enabler for circular business models.
 

 
As the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) raises the bar on recyclability and lifecycle performance, such partnerships will be critical. The frameworks developed in EcoCup and EcoTray are both scalable and transferable across sectors, offering a blueprint for manufacturers ready to lead in a circular future.

In a time when sustainability is no longer a side objective but a defining measure of competitiveness, remanufacturing has evolved from repair to reinvention. With the right tools, it becomes not just a regulatory response but a catalyst for innovation.