The 200-litre drum that comes back folded.
The CycloBox55 is a collapsible 55-gallon (200-litre) polypropylene drum for industrial and food-grade liquids. Full, it does the job of a conventional drum. Empty, it folds down and travels back in a fraction of the space. rCyclex licenses the technology to manufacturers who want to produce it.
The CycloBox55 in 50 seconds.
No audio, with English captions.
Full, it works. Empty, it folds.
Once the drum is empty, the straps come off, the corrugated-plastic body folds onto itself and sits between the two caps. The set travels back to the supplier in a fraction of the space of an assembled drum.
Tap the button to see it fold. Schematic illustration.
Assembled, in use 200 litres, caps locked by the straps. Folded, on the way back The body sits between the caps. Less volume per trip.
Every empty drum travels back full of air.
In return-and-reuse supply chains, an empty drum takes up as much space as a full one. Trucks, warehouses and yards pay for volume, not product. And a steel drum carries the weight of its own metal on every trip.
The CycloBox55 tackles both: less material to make it, less volume to bring it back.
Material per container: steel (market average) versus PE/PP resin in the CycloBox55.
Four parts, one container.
A hybrid container: a folding structure, rigid caps, an inner bag and straps that hold everything in place.
Octagonal body
Corrugated polypropylene. It gives the drum its shape in use and folds onto itself when empty.
Injection-moulded caps
Top and bottom in HDPE or PP, with filling bungs. They make the assembly rigid and stackable.
Inner liner
A cylindrical HDPE bag-in-box liner, with a welded spout aligned to the cap. It is the only part that touches the product, keeping the structure clean for the next cycle.
Locking straps
Polyester straps that tension the body and caps in the working position.
Prototype tested: 210 litres, no leaks.
To validate the concept, we built a working prototype with an octagonal corrugated-board structure, 3D-printed caps and a cylindrical HDPE liner. We filled it through the top bung, measuring the volume with an electronic flow meter, and inspected the top and bottom connections with the drum full.
Next step: repeat the validation with the final corrugated-PP structure.
Octagonal structure assembled, with a drain bung at the base. 
Cap with radial ribs and a threaded bung. 
Cylindrical liner installed in the structure. 
Filling through the top bung, with an electronic flow meter. 
Full: 210 litres held by the liner. 
Bottom bung under liquid, no seepage.
Built to go the full circle.
ReduceLess material
About 7 kg of resin instead of 16 kg of steel. For the caps, we are developing formulations with recycled resin.
ReturnFold it back
Once empty, the drum folds. More units fit on each truck and in each square metre of storage.
ReuseUse it again
Body, caps and straps go back into service. The liner, the part that touches the product, is the one you replace.
Where it works.
Any operation that fills, ships and takes back 200-litre drums today.
- Lubricants and oilsDistribution to workshops, fleets and plants, with container return.
- Chemicals and flammable liquidsUN certification planned for Class 3, packing groups II and III.
- Food ingredientsLecithin, fruit pulps, tomato paste and other viscous products.
- Juices and concentratesExports where the return freight of empty containers weighs on cost.
rCyclex licenses. You manufacture.
We are not a factory. We own the technology and grant it to manufacturers, by country or region, so they can produce and sell the CycloBox55 with their own plants.
For companies that already mould pails and lids or produce corrugated plastic sheet, the CycloBox55 is a new product that uses machines and customers they already have.
Propose a licencePartners we are looking for
- Moulders of pails, lids and rigid packaging
- Corrugated plastic sheet manufacturers
- Industrial packaging manufacturers and distributors
What a licence can include
- Right to use the patents in the agreed territory
- Technical package: drawings, material and mould specifications
- Support with certification testing
- Access to product improvements
The scope of each licence is agreed with the partner.
Protected technology.
- Brazil
- Utility model patent granted by INPI.
- International application
PCT/BR2025/050407
“Constructive arrangement for a collapsible, bung-closable drum with anchorages”, priority date November 2024.- Trademark
- rCyclex filed with INPI.
Where we are.
-
Protection
Patent granted in Brazil and PCT application filed.
Done -
Working prototype
Assembled, filled and inspected: 210 litres, no leaks.
Done -
PP version
Corrugated-PP structure, cap mould and recycled resin.
In progress -
Pilot batch
Transport testing and UN certification, Class 3, groups II and III.
Next -
Licences
First licensed manufacturers in Brazil and abroad.
Next
Let’s talk.
Manufacturers interested in a licence, investors, and companies that want to trial the CycloBox55 in their own operation.