Three new polypropylene (PP) resins can help food processors cut down on costs by reducing the weight of their packaging, according to the manufacturer.

Reducing packaging weight not only reduces material and transportation costs, but also helps a company to meet the tougher recycling requirements in place today.

Basell said the new PP resins - marketed under the trade names Adstif HA740J, Higran RS1684 and Moplen EP310K, can be used to replace traditional material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or glass.

"Competitive trends in the packaging industry to improve productivity and reduce weight and cost are driving the development of innovative PP resins increasingly replacing more traditional material such as PET or glass," said Rainer Mantel, a Basell spokesperson.

"We are seeing new customer requirements for improved barrier properties and aesthetics with low odour and taste, as well as the right balance of rigidity and impact resistance."

AdstifHA740J is designed for those requiring preformed multi-layer barrier food packaging.

The new resin is a nucleated, high-crystalline PP material for use in sheet extrusion and thermoforming processes. The resin offers improved processing, high transparency and stiffness without loss of impact resistance, the company claims.

Adstif HA740J has the potential for thermoformers to incorporate regrind into clear PP applications without compromising transparency, the company claimed.

Basell cited tests showing sheet containing ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) and a tie layer exhibited no visible signs of degradation or yellowness, even after recycling numerous times.

The company also cited customer trials showing that the product's processability leads to better wall thickness distribution in thermoformed packaging.

"Our new Adstif resin may provide additional value to customers', as a well-balanced wall thickness in thin-wall packaging can improve failure rates and result in the use of less material," claimed Michael Luetke, a Basell project manager.

The Adstif HA740J resin exhibits higher stiffness, providing good dimensional stability in thinner gauges even after sterilization, hot-filling or microwave reheating, the company claimed.

Basell is targeting the material at the multi-layer barrier food packaging market.

Luetke said food companies have been showing a "lot of interest" in using transparent barrier PP resins in food packaging to replace glass jars and metal cans.

Source