MATERIALS | COLOURS
Above: Avient’s PCR Color Prediction
Service helped achieve colour consistency in PCR packaging for L’Oréal’s Redken product line
consistency, quality, and circularity. The study demonstrated that using certain components from both companies together can have a range of benefits. These components include Borcycle M 100% mechanically recycled polypropylene (rPP) from Borealis which was used in tandem with Avient colorant formulations and its PCR Color Prediction Service. This is Avient’s digital tool for polyolefins and PET resins. Avient’s PCR Color Prediction Service uses sophisticated technology to help brand owners understand what colours are achievable based on the amount of PCR used. It can also calculate how much PCR content can be added to an existing package without affecting its signature colour. In a collaboration between Avient and L’Oréal, the cosmetics giant wanted to maintain the same colour packaging worldwide for product lines including Redken hair products. By using the PCR Color Prediction Service, L’Oréal, which is aiming to have 100% of the plastics used in its packaging to be made either from recycled or biobased sources by 2030, was able to address these challenges.
Right: BASF and Avient have collabo- rated to expand the market for coloured Ultrason PAES in durable or reusable items
Aesthetics “Avient’s Color Prediction Service allowed us to use local PCR grades wherever the business is – if the colour is for Europe, we use the European grade,” says Chantal Nestor-Saury, Product Development Manager at L’Oréal. “This means fewer colour iterations, fewer colour trials, and fewer plastic bottles travelling from one zone to the other.” Another key discovery from the study Avient and
Borealis conducted was that if colourant must be added to the base material, the addition of concen- trate can be low (around 2%). The higher translu- cency of Borcycle M compounds aids colour matching due to the material’s good light transmis- sion and colour absorption. The study also demon- strated that using Borcycle M grades along with Avient’s OnColor near-infrared (NIR) detectable colourants can produce a recyclable, neutral black which facilitates better automatic sorting. This helps
12 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | November/December 2023
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
prevent downcycling of darker and black PCRs based on their colour, and maintains their value in the recycling stream. “We’re pleased to be able to use the findings of this joint study to assist our value chain partners and customers in making informed decisions about the best colour matching options for their own rigid packaging applications,” says Peter Voort- mans, Global Commercial Director Consumer Prod- ucts at Borealis. “The more aesthetically appealing the pack, the more likely it is that the consumer will choose the more circular option. At Borealis, this is what we mean by re-inventing essentials for sustainable living.” Avient also collaborated with BASF earlier this
year to offer coloured grades of Ultrason polyary- lethersulfones (PAES) high-performance polymers as a base polymer combined with Avient’s Colorant Chromatics high-temperature colour formulation expertise. The collaboration offers customers in industries such as catering, electrical and electron- ics (E&E), and healthcare, a considerable benefit by providing comprehensive technical support.
Collaboration As a result, customers will be able to react more quickly to design trends and meet technical requirements and colour standards, thereby increasing speed to market. Products made using the Ultrason portfolio can be reused and recircu- lated many times over while maintaining perfor- mance and design, Avient says, thus supporting a circular economy, avoiding single-use plastics, and reducing packaging waste caused by conventional catering and take-away articles. “The market requirements for coloured, high- performance polymers are clear: you have to react quickly and also be able to supply various volumes
IMAGE: AVIENT
IMAGE: L’ORÉAL
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