Sustainable tubular container for consumer products

Abstract

A sustainable tubular container that is fully recyclable by curbside recycling, repulpable and home compostable and is easy to use, prevents undesired leakage of the consumer product material, can withstand repetitive usage, and overcomes deficiencies of existing all paper consumer product container systems. The tubular container is primarily paper based that may be recycled easily in the existing paper recycling stream with minimal non-paper parts that also are easily biodegradable, recyclable curbside or home compostable. Such a consumer product container preferably is made of paper-based materials with an inner liner or a coating and otherwise, it is made of PHA, PHB and/or other compostable moldable materials.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A sustainable container for a consumer product, the container comprising:
 a body having a tubular configuration surrounding a hollow interior for storing the consumer product, the body having a top end and an opposite bottom end that is sealable, the top end including an opening to provide access to the hollow interior, the body having an inner surface that is impermeable to prevent the consumer product from penetrating the body, the body being repeatedly deformable to compress the consumer product stored within the hollow interior, the body being formed from at least in part of a paper fiber material, the body being repulpable and recyclable;   a nozzle coupled to the top end of the body and in communication with the hollow interior, the nozzle forming a compressed interface with the body to form a sealed connection between the nozzle and the body to prevent the consumer product from leaking between the nozzle and the body, the nozzle configured to dispense the consumer product from the hollow interior upon application of pressure on the body, the nozzle being formed at least in part of a polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) material that is moldable, the nozzle being biocompostable; and   a cap for engaging and removably covering the nozzle, the cap formed at least in part from the paper fiber material and the PHA material, the cap being recyclable and biocompostable, the cap having a first engagement portion molded from the PHA material of the cap for engaging a second engagement portion molded from the PHA material of the nozzle,   wherein the sustainable container being composed of the paper fiber material that is at least 80% of the total weight of the sustainable container and the PHA material that is not greater than 20% of the total weight of the sustainable container.   
     
     
         2 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the paper fiber material is at least one of wound paper fiber, cardboard, corrugated cardboard, and cellulose. 
     
     
         3 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the inner surface of the body is at least one of coated, laminated, combined, and treated with biodegradable materials to prevent absorption of the consumer product by the body and leakage of the consumer product from the body. 
     
     
         4 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the inner surface of the body includes a layer of metallized polyethylene terephthalate (PET). 
     
     
         5 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the inner surface of the body includes a heat sealable liner. 
     
     
         6 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the body is configured to be filled from the top end. 
     
     
         7 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the body is configured to be filled from the bottom end. 
     
     
         8 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the body is sealed to be airtight to preserve freshness of the consumer product. 
     
     
         9 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the bottom end is sealed using at least one of heat, pressure, thermal bonding, induction sealing, and adhesives. 
     
     
         10 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the cap includes a shell, an external plate, an internal plate, and an outer ring. 
     
     
         11 . The sustainable container of  claim 10 , wherein the external plate is coupled to the shell by at least one of a pressure fitting, mechanical bonding, thermal bonding, and adhesives, the external plate and the shell being formed at least in part of the paper fiber material, the external plate and the shell being repulpable and recyclable. 
     
     
         12 . The sustainable container of  claim 10 , wherein the internal plate is coupled to the external plate and the shell, the internal plate being formed with an opening sized and configured to receive a portion of the nozzle when the cap is positioned over the end of the nozzle of the sustainable container, the internal plate being formed at least in part of the paper fiber material, the internal plate being repulpable and recyclable. 
     
     
         13 . The sustainable container of  claim 10 , wherein the outer ring is coupled to the internal plate and the shell, at least a portion of the outer ring forming the first engagement portion of the cap, the outer ring being formed at least in part of the PHA material, the outer ring being biocompostable. 
     
     
         14 . The sustainable container of  claim 13 , wherein the first engagement portion of the cap includes a thread. 
     
     
         15 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the second engagement portion of the nozzle includes a thread. 
     
     
         16 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the first engagement portion of the cap is configured to engage the second engagement portion of the nozzle by at least one of a snap-fit, a friction-fit, an interference-fit, a thread, and rotational locks. 
     
     
         17 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the nozzle is coupled to the body using at least one of pressure, friction, adhesives, thermo-bonding, and induction sealing. 
     
     
         18 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the nozzle further includes a shoulder for stopping the cap when the cap threadably engages with the nozzle to prevent overtightening of the cap. 
     
     
         19 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , wherein the nozzle further includes at least one rib formed to depress into a portion of the body when coupled to the body to create a compression fit that is anti-rotational as between the nozzle and the body. 
     
     
         20 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , further comprising a rim coupled to the body by an interference fit, the rim configured to removably engage with the body and the nozzle, the rim being formed from at least in part of the paper fiber material, the rim being repulpable and recyclable. 
     
     
         21 . The sustainable container of  claim 20 , wherein the rim further comprises an aperture, the nozzle includes a knub, and the aperture being configured to engage the knub to mechanically couple the rim to the nozzle. 
     
     
         22 . The sustainable container of  claim 21 , further comprising a bag having an opening for storing the consumer product and being sized and configured to fit within at least a portion of the hollow interior of the body, the bag being configured between the knub of the nozzle and the aperture of the rim to create a pressure fit, the bag being formed at least in part of the PHA material and being biocompostable. 
     
     
         23 . The sustainable container of  claim 1 , further comprising a seal removably coupled to an opening in the nozzle for dispensing consumer product using at least one of pressure, friction, adhesives, thermo-bonding, and induction sealing, the seal being formed from at least one of a recyclable and compostable material that prevents leakage of the consumer product from the body.