Holland Colours announces the introduction of Thermostretch, a new answer to one of the biggest challenges facing PET packaging manufacturers: how to accelerate PET production while maintaining a high level of light barrier protection.
PET packaging offers several significant advantages over traditional packaging, including freedom of design and improved recyclability. PET systems also support fast production speeds and simple and quick mold-change turnaround times. Result: one machine can produce many different sizes of bottles. This efficiency provides significant bottom-line savings.
Current light barrier technology
With more and more brands looking to PET to create attractive packaging for light-sensitive products, the challenge is to provide a great light barrier solution while maintaining production speeds.
Creating an effective UV barrier (blocking 99% or more) involves adding a high dose of light barrier concentrate to the PET resin. With traditional additives, one side effect of this has been a limit in the preform’s ability to quickly absorb the heat energy that is needed to blow the bottle. The solution that has been used so far is to ease back on the production speed to compensate.
Breakthrough Holcomer Thermostretch delivers speed and sustainability
As the expert in colorants and additives for PET packaging and the leader in sustainable colorant solutions for the plastics industry, Holland Colours is continuously looking to improve our products and our industry. This drive led us to develop and now launch Holcomer Thermostretch.
Holcomer Thermostretch delivers significantly higher opacity and much-improved heat absorbance at a dosing level 40% less than that of traditional alternatives.”, explains Hans Werink, Global Product Manager Dairy Applications at Holland Colours. “By means of these beneficial properties, the production speed restrictions are lifted to levels that are close to blowing un-colored preforms. Holcomer Thermostretch also meets new regulations that limit the use of inorganic pigments and so improve recyclability.”, Werink continues.
Improve your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for PET preform and bottle production
The result is an increase in blowing output of up to 25% and a scrap rate at the same level as seen with uncolored preforms. All for the same capital investment, energy requirements, and operational cost.
The benefits do not end there either. When preform and bottle design and preform wall thickness become less of a limiting factor, producers can choose from a broader range of existing preform and bottle molds rather than having to make substantial investments in adaptations or new ones. This also provides very significant cost savings. The lower scrap rate also translates into direct savings, and the much broader processing window supports shorter start-up times, which reduces opportunity cost. The much lower dosing level also reduces mold abrasion, as a result extending maintenance intervals. Add it all up and you get a significantly reduced TCO for preform and bottle production, adding to the already very attractive economics of PET packaging.
A great companion offering to Holland Colours FastHeat
As a thermal additive technology, Holcomer Thermostretch for dairy application joins our FastHeat range of additives for non-dairy applications. FastHeat does for non-dairy PET bottle production what Thermostretch does for light barrier PET: boost bottle production by reducing the heating time and energy needed during bottle blowing.
