Research and Product
Development of Plastic Cups
Raw Materials

-What do we need? Petroleum, Natural Gas

-Where will they come from? Saudi Arabia, United States
Production Types
-How will we make it? Molding types
-Injection Molding
Plastic Types
-Thermoplastics-can be remolded, easily melt
-*Thermosetting-cannot remold, but resistant to heat.
Marketing
 Who is your market audience?


-Who is in need of the product
-Food businesses inside stadiums, movie theaters,
amusement parks, college students
Why is this product “The Best”
-What it’s made out of, how it’s made
-Durability, cost, environmentally friendly
Advertising
-The internet, via facebook, Twitter, tumblr,
http://www.enerdata.net/enerdatauk/
http://www.eia.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec11_10.pdf
etc.
Manufacturing
 Most plastic cups are made
by a process called
injection molding:
Injection molding – the
raw plastic material is
poured into the hopper, gets
mixed, and then injected
into the molds. Then the
cups are cooled and ejected
into storage and onto the
next part of its cycle to be
packaged.
http://www.ptonline.com/zones/injection/
Packaging
 Cups come through in
a single line to the
counting system, such
as the Nalle
Automation System,
which can count at a
speed of 5,000
cups/min accurately.
Packaging cont.
 Then, they are separated
and recounted. After
that, they are loaded into
a wrapper, bagged, and
released onto a conveyor
belt – ready to be
distributed.
http://www.nalleautomation.com/plastic_c
up_packaging.sml
Sales
They use a wide variety of

sales tactics
 Their website
 Adds in magazines and
newspapers
 Commercials on TV
 All these things are
designed to draw customers
in and make them believe
they need the product
through fluffy working and
bright packaging to
stimulate the customers
senses.
 Solo’s innovative products
and designs have become
iconic parts of our culture.
Distribution
 After they are manufactured they are loaded onto
trucks and trains to be shipped out to companies that
use them and to stores to sell them directly to the
consumers
Consumer Use
 Consumers tend to fly through sets of these plastic
cups. Since they are one time use items they do not last
very long.
 Everyone has seen the huge amounts of cups at parties
and how many end up in the trash.
Recycling
• Sorted
• Shredded
• Cleaned
• Resin
• Shipped
Disposal
• 50-250 years
• Sanitary landfill - landfill that uses a clay liner to
isolate the trash from the environment.
• Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill - uses a
synthetic (plastic) liner to isolate the trash from
the environment.