Lyondell new resins offer improved packaging clarity
enhanced clarity in food and beverage packaging.
The resins - PP30HF01 and PP33HF04 polypropylene-ethylene copolymer resins -feature www.millikenchemical.com Milliken Chemical's Millad 3988 clarifying agent. Designed for use in moulding and extrusion applications including blow moulding, sheet, injection moulding and film, where enhanced clarity is essential, these new resins can be used to make food containers and beverage bottles.
"We wanted to offer a superior product with exceptional clarity," said Chuck Shearn, Lyondell's marketing manager for blow moulding. "By incorporating Millad 3988 clarifying agent into our resins, we can offer our clients products with outstanding clarity, faster cycle times, dimensional stability and toughness."
Millad 3988 clarifying agent is one of the most widely used clarifying agents for polypropylene and, claims Lyondell, is recognised for its superior clarity, reduced density, increased strength and enhanced cost effectiveness. PP30HF01 and PP33HF04 polypropylene-ethylene copolymer resins are compliant with the Food and Drug Administration regulations and can be used to produce food storage containers and closures that come into contact with food.
The launch of the two new resins follows the PET industry association Petcore's recent endorsement of Plasmax, a SiOx-coated barrier from SIG Corpoplast, and ActiTUF, an in-resin barrier technology from M&G, for coloured bottle applications.
ActiTUF grades for use in clear and light blue bottles met all protocol requirements except for colour and haze in the bottle-to-bottle test protocol.
The approval suggests that the PET barrier beverage segment is still dynamic and highly innovative. In the UK, PET bottles have recorded significant volume increases in soft drinks in the last few years, gradually replacing metal beverage cans and glass bottles because they are lightweight, shatterproof and transparent.
Between 1998 and 2002, PET bottles rose by 34 per cent to achieve volumes of 4.8 billion units.
Lyondell also offers Millad 3988 clarified grades for injection-moulded applications. PP33HR01 and PP43QW02 are commercially available for applications such as injection-moulded food storage containers and closures.
Lyondell Chemical is the third-largest independent, publicly traded chemical company in North America. It operates on five continents and employs approximately 10,000 people worldwide.
