Packaging
Genpak Pioneers in PET Foam Sheet
Soon after Genpak LLC launched its line of CPET trays for commercial baking in the early 1990s, the firm chose foamed PET as its next R&D target.
Read MoreWood on Plastics: Sustainable Packaging: A Lot More Than Buzzwords
Packaging is at the nexus of every global supply chain and customer relationship, because for every product sold in stores, there is both primary and secondary packaging.—Wal-Mart sustainable packaging fact sheet.
Read MoreCan't Succeed at Molding 'Commodities'? Best to 'Can' That Way of Thinking
So you think a can is a can is a can?
Read MoreYour Business Outlook - January 2009
Domestic output of injection molded packaging decreased by 6% in 2008, and the decline accelerated as the year ended.
Read MoreGet a Handle on Stress-Cracking In HDPE Bottles
One of the first applications for blow molded HDPE bottles was the replacement of glass for bleach packaging.
Read MoreNew High-Performance Nylons For Automotive, Electronics, Packaging
Nylon producer Ems-Grivory America in Sumter, S.C., is reaching beyond its traditional product range to bring out new partially aromatic nylons that bridge the gap between standard engineering thermoplastics and high-performance specialty polymers.
Read MoreNew Metallocene TP Elastomers Tackle Films, Fibers, TPOs
The Vistamaxx family of propylene-ethylene specialty elastomers recently unveiled by ExxonMobil Chemical (see Your Business In Brief, August 2003) holds promise in a broad range of applications from very soft fabrics and films to very hard TPOs.
Read MoreNPE News Wrap-Up: Materials
New materials at NPE 2003 target automotive, appliance, and packaging sectors. Engineering thermoplasticsdominate the news, but there were also severalnew TPEs and a few polypropylene introductions.
Read MoreNanocomposites Broaden Roles in Automotive, Barrier Packaging
Nanocomposites are gradually gaining acceptance in the mainstream of global plastics processing. These polymer compounds, containing relatively low loadings (under 6% by weight) of nanometer-sized mineral particles, are beginning to show up in polypropylene and TPO-based automotive exterior claddings, barrier beer bottles, nylon packaging films, polyethylene pipe and wire/cable coatings, and more.
Read MoreMetallocene PP & PE Weld Strongly to Each Other
Multilayer film applications such as packaging and diapers are just two areas that could benefit from spot welding (instead of gluing) polyethylene to polypropylene. Normally these two resins show poor adhesion to each other. But two years of research at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and at ExxonMobil Chemical in Houston show that metallocene-catalyzed polyolefins can weld to each other with bond strengths much greater than are possible with conventional Ziegler-Natta catalyzed polyolefins.
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