Russian market ripe for ABA blown film technology

The market for ABA blown film technology as a replacement for monolayer machines is growing as many manufacturers are now adopting the technology mainly because a high percentage (up to 50~70%) of CaCO3 compounds can be used in the B (middle) layer of the film. This significantly cuts down the usage of virgin raw material, thus reducing production cost.

The Russian market is ripe for this type of technology as this year alone, Polystar and its representative in Russia, Evropolimer, has already carried out more than 10 installations of 3-layer ABA blown film co-extrusion machine Eco-Flex in different industrial areas in Russia.

For the third consecutive year of increased sales, repeated orders and positive customer feedback, it is evident that ABA is extremely competitive for manufacturing T-shirt and garbage bags compared to mono (one) layer production. In markets where the price of HDPE raw material has increased significantly, ABA provides a great advantage in terms of lowering production cost and increasing product quality and competiveness.

The main advantages of the ABA line is visible in the stronger, higher film resistance as compared to mono layer film products with the same thickness. Cost saving is achieved as virgin material is applied mainly on the outer (thin) layers which is relatively a very small percentage of the film composition. The ABA line also enables better  material mixing with co-extrusion to produce better quality film. ABA machines are ideal for the production of T-shirt bags, garbage bags and shrink film (for bottle wrapping)

The ABA blown film extruders consists of two extruders to produce 3-layer film. The most common ones today are the combination of a 45mm extruder together with a 55mm to produce 500~1000mm film width, and a 55/65mm extruder combination to produce up to 1400mm film in width, particularly for the production of T-shirt bag and garbage bags. The B (middle) layer, which makes up about 60~75% of the film composition, usually consists of 60~70% CaCO3 compounds. Recycled pellets (from in-house waste) can also be added to the blend. The re-designed screw helps to achieve maximum efficiency during the film production process. A better extrusion mixing is able to produce outstanding film quality, even when working with 60% CaCO3 and recycled material in the mixture.

Polystar has put a major emphasis on the re-designing and manufacturing of ABA blown film extruders in recent years. Approximately 135 sets of Polystar ABA type blown film extruders have been installed worldwide, particularly in countries where monolayer film production has become competitive. Polystar provides high customization on the ABA machines depending on customer’s requirement, space and budget concerns.