Borealis touts thin wall polymer advances

By Mark Astley

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Food

A new high flow polymer for thin wall packaging with improved organoleptic properties will reduce energy consumption during production said its developer.

Borealis said its BorPure RJ766MO, has the same organoleptic properties - meaning it will not impart the taste or smell of the packaged food – as low flow packaging but with improved melt flow.

The product will also reduce energy consumption though reduced production temperatures.

The packaging, which has been designed primarily for transparent injection moulded, thin walled food packaging, is a random polypropylene (PP) copolymers.

Previously, it has only been possible to develop superior organoleptic properties in low flow packaging, a spokesperson for Borealis told FoodProductionDaily.com.

A stereotype it hopes to break.

Superior organoleptic properties

“In the past this has only been possible to develop these levels of organoleptic properties in cheaper, less effective packaging, but with our development we have managed to develop a transparent packaging application with a high flow, but also improved organoleptic properties,” ​said Mari Kylmala, application marketing manager at Borealis.

“There are food packaging applications out there that have good organoleptic properties, but the majority of these have a low flow.”

“Our development has these same superior organoleptic properties, but with a high flow.”

“These old fashioned, low flow applications will decrease, and applications with high flow and better organoleptic properties will replace them,” ​said Kylmala.

The transparent packaging technology, which has been developed for use with food items such as fruit, confectionary items and dairy products such as yoghurt, will also meet increasing regulatory scrutiny.

“There has been an increase in governments coming into the market and saying that packaging is not fulfilling organoleptic needs – saying that it is too smelly.”

“They don’t want to smell packaging; they want to smell the product,” ​she added.

Reduced production energy

The product, which is the latest development in a range of three random PP products, is a combination of Borealis’ polymerisation technology and its nucleation technology.

The combination of these technologies produces a material with unique molecular weight distribution and crystalline structure – resulting in a good balance of stiffness and impact properties, said the company.

The application’s high flow rate also reduces production energy through the running of equipment at lower temperatures than is possible with other packaging applications with sufficient organoleptic properties.

The first two developments have melt flow rates of 30 and 45, which Borealis believe have strengthened its position as a thin wall consumer packaging leader in Europe.

“With its high melt flow rate of 70, BorPure RJ766MO now brings energy saving advantages to containers with even the thinnest walls,”​ said Rainer Hofling, Borealis moulding vice president.

“Given its excellent organoleptic properties, our new BorPure material is now the preferred grade for all types of food packaging.”

Related topics Food Safety & Quality

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