TOP TALK PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 07+08/25 www.petpla.net 10 PTI celebrates 40 years by revitalising the profi le of its light Dromo bottle and raising awareness of its breadth of services A legacy in PET Plastic Technologies, Inc (PTI) in 2025 celebrates the 40th anniversary of its foundation in 1985 by Thomas E. Brady, PhD, who led development of PET bottle technology from 1971 to 1984 at Owens-Illinois Inc. He also led the transformation of the iconic Coca-Cola bottle from glass and was, initially, the drinks giant’s only expert on PET. On the occasion of the company’s anniversary, PETplanet spoke with Marketing Manager Erica Hartmann about PTI’s evolving role in sustainable packaging, its analytical and prototyping services, and the renewed push to showcase its Dromo e-commerce bottle. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, USA and with a facility in Switzerland, PTI has built a reputation as an innovator and developer of leading edge solutions in the PET packaging industry, across food and beverage, personal care and household. It designed the ketchup bottle for Heinz that is now a common sight in food cupboards across the world; Kraft Heinz remains an important client, along with Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Mars, Mondelez, SC Johnson, Diageo, Carlsberg and many more. The company works with resin producers, additive suppliers, recyclers and converters, as well as manufacturers. PTI has collaborated with DePoly to create a closedloop recycled PET bottle; sustainability and the development of products using higher proportions of rPET are a current priority for the company, Marketing Manager Erica Hartmann explained. Recycling and sustainability “We are heavily engaged in researching and testing several different types of post-consumer recycled (PCR) resins, in exploring chemical and advanced recycling technologies and analysing how recycled resins compare to virgin materials,” she said. Analysis extends to comparing recycling process chains: curbside against collection, reverse deposit schemes and recovery from general waste collection. “We have been involved in developing sustainable packaging solutions for years. Dromo, a lightweight e-commerce bottle, uses 75% less material than similar PET bottles.” The 16 fl oz (one US Pint; 443ml) bottle, which weighs less than 10 g, was first introduced at Pack Expo in 2018 so it is quite well established but Erica says that the time is right to raise its profile and remind the market what a versatile and effective solution it is. Despite its exceptionally light weight, Dromo is a refillable bottle, designed to be inserted into rigid, reusable containers of the kind typically used for personal care products. As it is squarely aimed at the e-commerce segment, it does not have to meet requirements for on-shelf packaging, which is how the designers to cut out so much weight. The walls are thin but the opposing flat side panels provide sidewall strength and enable stacking, prior to shrink wrapping. The bottles can be sealed with a threaded closure or a foil seal. Lightness does not come at the cost of robust performance; the Dromo bottles comfortably pass burst tests up to 173 psi (just under 12 bar) and drop tests from six feet (183 cm). It can be made with up to 100% PCR. Small company with a big impact PTI employs just 65 people across its two locations, so it isn’t a huge producer of preforms or bottles, itself. It collaborates with clients to design and develop packaging solutions that meet their particular needs. At any time, a lot of its ongoing work is confidential, so Erica could not go into details about new launches we could expect to see this year or next but she was able to talk about the capabilities that the company’s two offices have. “We work with different packaging types, including flexible, thermoform and HDPE packaging, as well as PET, for standard, hot-fill and aseptic applications, and provide testing and validation for all of them. Our analytical services lab is probably the biggest part of our activities. We do a lot of testing to make sure that our clients’ products work right,” said Erica. “We also have a production lab here in Toledo so we have the ability to cut and make injection and blow moulds, internally. So, if a customer needs something for a trial or even a small run, we can do that.” She showed an example of what PTI can do in this context: a wide-mouth bottle, specially produced for the company’s 40th anniversary. The beginnings: Thomas E. Brady (right) and AI Uhlig (left) measure new container sizes. Erica Hartmann, Marketing Manager PTI by Ruari McCallion
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