The all-around value of ultra clear PP

Sustainability has become a reality in packaging with growing trend pointing towards limiting the adverse impact of various products on the environment. Polypropylene (PP) is fully recyclable and it's even easier to recycle than almost any other plastic. PP even flows more easily as it degrades, without cross linking, gel forming or off-gassing. Many companies are now shifting to PP for their packaging requirements for the benefits of less plastic and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The material has also become more eye-catching, thanks to newly developed additives. Leading polyolefins additives  supplier, Milliken, targets converters and brand owners at RosUpack 2015 with the inspiring aesthetic appeal, excellent application performance and outstanding productivity improvements of the company's Ultra Clear PP clarified with Milliken's pioneering Millad® NX™ 8000 series for packaging.

 

With the introduction of Millad® NX™ 8000 for thermoforming, transparency in sheet extrusion and thermoforming is no longer limited to PET and PS. Millad NX 8000 has been designed specifically to provide a step change in optical properties of polypropylene (PP) sheet and thermoformed parts. PP clarified with Millad NX 8000 enables the substitution of more expensive, less functional and less sustainable materials. Ultra Clear PP clarified Millad NX 8000 sets a new clarity standard for PP that is comparable to glass-clear materials. It gives PP a clarity boost that overcomes the traditional undesirable milky appearance to create highly-attractive transparency similar to PET for applications such as meat trays, clamshell containers and lids. Ultra Clear PP also offers important performance benefits such as mono-material packaging, easy seal, chemical resistance, impact resistance and heat resistance. The material's excellent heat resistance further extends application opportunities by enabling microwaveability and hot fill capability.

 

Proven statistics support Ultra Clear PP's productivity improvements, energy savings, low carbon footprint and costefficiency compared to alternative plastics.  It offers a 17.8% weight saving compared to PET based food trays, with possibilities to produce 70 trays from 1kg of PP compared with 57 trays from 1kg of PET.  Injection moulders can also take advantage of the exceptional aesthetics, productivity gains and energy-saving benefits of Ultra Clear PP clarified with Millad NX 8000. For example, to produce thin wall packaging containers the use of the additive allows conversion temperatures to be lowered, particularly in injection moulding, leading to less energy use and accompanying CO₂ emission reductions. Numerous industrial test data indicate that use of Millad NX 8000 can lower required processing emperatures from 235°C to 190°C, resulting in cycle time reductions of up to 10%, energy savings between 8 and 12%, and associated CO₂ emissions reductions.

 

The right shades and colours Using Milliken's ClearTint innovations,  converters and designers can offer the deep rich shades currently popular with consumers and meet the trend toward packaging that extends shelf life. Offering the brightest, cleanest and most transparent colours in PP and PE, ClearTint colourants are precisely designed to enhance Millad® clarifying products. The superior deep, rich shades achievable with ClearTint are unavailable with traditional pigment colours. Milliken's innovative colourants are FDA compliant and are perfected to provide freedom from colour migration or extraction.

 

Because of the unique colouring properties, Milliken's ClearTint colourants are applicable in a variety of products, from typical fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) transparent PP packaging and HDPE packaging for caps and closures, to a broad range of indoor durable goods, like housewares and other consumer products.  

 

In addition, Milliken's ClearTint CUV is a transparent UV absorber specifically designed for use in PP. This additive can be used to inhibit UV light transmission in injection molding, thermoforming and blow molding. “Ultra Clear PP offers a host of value adding benefits to the packaging industry and we are looking forward to bringing these to the forefront at RosUpack 2015. The use of ClearTint in PP clarified with the Millad NX 8000 series gives an unprecedented boost to color possibilities and product protection in one, taking these advantages a step further," comments Dariusz Lukaszewski, Regional Manager CEE, Milliken.