Slim your bag now

The European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is changing the way manufacturers approach packaging. From 2030, packaging placed on the EU market will have to be designed so that its weight and volume are reduced to the minimum necessary while maintaining its functionality.

For the pet food industry, this raises a practical question: how can manufacturers reduce packaging material without reducing the quantity of product inside the bag and compromising the production performance of the line?

A new filling approach

At CETEC, this challenge led to a rethink of the filling process itself. The SlimBagger reduces bag dimensions while keeping the same product quantity and throughput.

The principle is simple: make better use of the available volume inside the bag. The SlimBagger combines an optimized filling process with product settling during filling, allowing more product to be packed into a smaller volume and reducing unnecessary headspace.

It features one bag magazine and two filling spouts. While one bag benefits from an extended filling and settling cycle to maximize the use of its internal volume, the next bag can already be processed on the adjacent spout. This Mono-Duo operating principle means that additional filling time does not have to mean lower production output.

Up to 20% smaller bags

Tests carried out in cooperation with major European packaging suppliers have confirmed the concept. Depending on product and bag characteristics, the SlimBagger can enable bag height reductions of up to 20%, while maintaining the original quantity of product inside.

Smaller bags may also open opportunities for optimizing palletization, storage and transport, generating potential savings throughout the logistics chain while reducing the overall environmental footprint.

Beyond compliance

The benefits go beyond regulatory compliance. Using smaller bags means less packaging material and therefore lower packaging purchasing costs – savings that add up across millions of bags a year.

In other words, packaging reduction should not only be seen as a regulatory constraint. With the right filling technology, it can also become an opportunity to improve both environmental and economic performance. The investment typically pays back within three years.

As PPWR moves packaging toward greater material and volume efficiency, the challenge is not simply to use less packaging. It is to use packaging better.

With the SlimBagger, CETEC is applying that principle to the pet food production line.