Alternatives to PET - High-gloss polyethylene

Studies have shown that consumers are more likely to be attracted to products with good gloss, but the problem faced by packers is that the gloss of the packaging is inversely proportional to the strength of the packaging. Gloss increases, but the strength of the package is reduced.

Ampacet, headquartered in the United States, is a global masterbatch manufacturer with operations spanning the Americas, Asia and Europe. Ampacet claims that the use of a POP brightener blended with HDPE can reduce this problem. Opaque HDPE containers produced using this blend can replace PET products, significantly reducing costs and optimizing processes.

According to Ampacet’s Business Strategy Manager, packagers prefer high-gloss packaging, which helps their plastic bottles and plastic containers stand out on retail shelves. POP coloring provides more ways for HDPE to achieve higher gloss. He said: "This is very important, because HDPE is cheaper than PET, and the required process equipment costs are relatively low. Using POP colorants can add special properties to other packaging materials, and this effect is in PET packaging. It is difficult to obtain.” In addition, findings have shown that using HDPE does not reduce the performance and integrity of blown PET and injection molded PET packaging.

Other high-gloss polyethylene compounds lack sufficient relative strength to be used in the production of single-layer bottles and can only be used as the surface layer of multilayer bottles. Compared to other products, the increase in brightness can increase the hardness and melting strength of HDPE products, the performance is sufficient to meet the needs of its surface for single-layer bottles and multilayer bottles.

According to Ampacet, the use of POP colorants can avoid the problems of melt fracture or excessive blanking time and increase the crush strength of the package. The use of low-viscosity HDPE containing POP colorants alleviates demolding problems and many downstream operational issues such as friction and blocking problems in transport. HDPE with POP colorant has a very high thermal deflection temperature, so the deformation sensitivity of the package when stored at high temperatures is low, for example, stored in a warehouse with high temperature in summer.

The POP colorants meet the specifications set by the US Food and Drug Administration for direct contact with food substances. Whether it is a high-speed extruder, low-speed extruder or other equipment, POP colorants can flow in existing HDPE molds.

It is reported that coloring uses Ampacet's SmartColor process technology, making it easier to change the color when cleaning, reducing downtime and improving product quality.

Reprinted from: Huayin Media