US market research company, The Freedonia Group, predicts that “Demand for polypropylene is expected to outpace overall container resin demand growth through 2016 due to the material’s numerous advantages, as well as the continued development of polypropylene grades with improved clarity, making the resin more competitive with PET.” Read the full report here.
That’s good news for Milliken & Company. The company has been using its MilladNX 8000 clarifying technology to develop and refine ultra-clear polypropylene (PP). Ultra-clear PP, Milliken states, will be the material of choice in thermoformed food and beverage packaging vs. traditional polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS). It is a significantly lighter, less expensive, highly recyclable and more environmentally responsible solution than PET and PS for the demanding food and beverage packaging sector.
“The confluence of several factors is driving the increased use of clarified PP - instead of PET and PS – in food and beverage packaging thermoformed applications,” said Cristina Acevedo, global product line manager for Millad, Plastics Additives at Milliken & Company.
“Our Millad NX 8000 clarifier allows packaging manufacturers to take advantage of PP’s cost-effectiveness, high performance, microwavability, lower density and recyclability without compromising on exceptional aesthetics. Ultra-clear, thermoformed PP represents the next wave of material technology for the packaging industry.”
In addition to PP’s cost benefits, the material provides performance properties that lead to further cost savings for manufacturers. The lower density of PP reduces the weight of a thermoformed PET part, so that less material is used for containers. For example, 0.30 mm thermoformed container lids made with clarified PP weigh 17% less than 0.20 mm lids made with PET, enabling 46 more PP lids to be produced from a single kilogram of resin.
Milliken’s Millad NX 8000 additive enables its PP to achieve transparency and brightness that other plastics cannot yet match. This increases shelf appeal and is a cue for a high quality product.
The new PP provides higher seal integrity and easier film removal without tearing than other mixed material containers – for example, a PET tray and film seal made from PP.
Polypropylene is fully recyclable and environmentally responsible. Firstly, PP consumes the least amount of energy during production compared to other plastic materials. Second, PP has the highest recovery of energy released during its combustion. It also has the lowest density and produces the lowest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions when compared to other commonly used transparent plastics in food and beverage packaging like PET and PS.
Millad NX 8000 additive is Milliken's fourth-generation clarifying agent. It helps create a PP product without the limitations of less-functional clear materials. Milliken’s Millad NX 8000 clarifier can be effectively used in virtually all processing methods, including injection moluding, blow moulding and thermoforming, and it is available globally from Milliken in both masterbatch and powder forms.
