Thermoform Circularity

Welcome to Good Information Courses by Plastic Ingenuity. These courses are designed to give a deeper understanding of thermoformed packaging. 

Who is this course for?
Throughout this course, you will become familiar with the principles of thermoformed packaging. If you’re a packaging engineer, procurement officer, buyer, sustainability manager or packaging development researcher, this detailed course will help you become familiar with thermoforming and how you can impact your sustainability efforts.

Course 1: Thermoform Circularity

In this first course of the PI series, we explore the essential role of thermoformed packaging and how it can evolve toward true circularity.

Lesson 1 begins with an introduction to thermoforming, covering the step-by-step process, its advantages compared to other plastic processing technologies, and the life cycle of thermoformed products. Lesson 2 dives into the world of polymers, explaining the properties, applications, and recyclability of common plastics used in thermoforming—and the unique challenges of mixed materials. Lesson 3 examines mechanical recycling, including the collection, sorting, and reprocessing steps that determine whether thermoforms achieve recyclability in practice. Lesson 4 expands the conversation to advanced recycling, looking at cutting-edge technologies such as purification, depolymerization, and conversion, as well as the role of mass balance and certification in scaling these solutions. Finally, Lesson 5 focuses on circularity itself, pulling together the drivers of change, barriers that must be overcome, and strategies stakeholders can use to design, recover, and reuse thermoforms in a thriving circular economy.

By the end of this course, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of thermoforming technology, the materials that shape it, and the recycling systems—both mechanical and advanced—that are critical to achieving circularity.

Getting started:
Watch each course one YouTube, by clicking the image, or, view the entire playlist here.

What’s Next:
View the next course in our series, Sustainable Packaging.