FLEXIBLE FILMS | ADDITIVES
The trend to more recycled and bio-based content is driving innovation in sustainable additives for film applications, writes Jennifer Markarian
Growing demands for film sustainability
Plastic film formulations are engineered to deliver high performance in a wide range of blown and cast applications with the key aim to enable them to be extruded at high speeds without line breaks and at ever thinner gauges while maintaining, or improving, required physical properties. Additives — including antioxidants, slips, and processing aids — are crucial to this performance. Additive suppliers today are developing new options that meet demands from film users and processors through the introduction of bio-based additives, alternative processing aids, and solutions that help maintain film performance with ever higher levels of recycled content. Additives also play a role in the shift to mono-
material flexible packaging, which can be more easily recycled than films composed of multiple layers each containing different — and sometimes incompatible — polymeric materials or metallized components. The challenge is to create a mono- material film that can still meet the needed barrier properties.
www.compoundingworld.com
UltraGuard solutions from Milliken are said to have been shown to significantly improve barrier performance in HDPE, and the company says they can be used to produce recyclable, non-metallised moisture barrier packaging. This year, Milliken plans to introduce a new addition to the Ultra- Guard line in the form of a masterbatch formulated for HDPE and LLDPE flexible packaging uses. “We are finalising a new generation of Ultra-
Guard to further enable mono-material packaging solutions,” says Katie Kellogg, Global Product Line Manager for Masterbatch Solutions at Milliken. “Brands are asking for sustainable plastic packag- ing options but often cannot sacrifice performance metrics of their current packaging. By enhancing the performance of blown HDPE and LLDPE film, we hope our soon-to-be-launched UltraGuard solution will make more mono-material packaging possible, thanks to increased barrier performance.” In September last year, BASF said that it was to
offer two of its workhorse antioxidants in biomass- balanced (BMB) versions that replace fossil-based
January/February 2024 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 15
Main image: Additive suppliers are working hard to develop products that meet end user demands for improved sustainability and reduced carbon emissions
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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