Materials Science
VELOX and SK Chemicals present new transparent bio-plastic

VELOX, one of Europe’s leading solution providers of raw material specialities for the plastics, composites, additives and paint & coatings industries, and its long-term partner  SK  Chemicals (South  Korea)  are  presenting  the next  innovation  for plastic packaging applications such as aerosol containers as well as cosmetic and hot fill  bottles.  ECOZEN  HF is  a  newly  developed bio-copolyester  range  that is  perfectly suitable  for  aluminum, glass and PET replacement wherever  heat and  pressure resistance combined  with  transparency is  required.  First  customers  have  already started sampling the grades.

“ECOZEN HF has  similar processing  requirements to  PET  and  can  be used  in the  same injection-stretch blow moulding (ISBM) process. However, the new grades by SK Chemicals perform  perfectly  in  areas  where  PET  can  sometimes fail,  such  as  in  high  temperature  and high pressure  applications”, explains François  Minec, General  Manager at  VELOX. “For example, PET is sometimes used to produce aerosol bottles. These bottles can often fail due to high residual stress and the low temperature resistance of PET, especially in the summer months when possible leakage is the result. ECOZEN HF offers an ideal alternative here.”

Besides remarkable resistance to pressure, stress-cracking and high temperatures, ECOZEN HF is characterised by excellent transparency and easy processing. As a glass replacement, e.g. for food packaging, it not only helps to reduce weight and transportation costs but can also be  used to  produce  hot-fill  containers  without  the  need  for  an expensive  PET heat-setting process or the need for crystallising the bottle or jar neck. Similarly, as an aluminum substitute in the cosmetics packaging industry, ECOZEN HF combines high pressure-resistance with design flexibility and transparency. In addition, Ecozen HF is totally miscible with PET in the recycling stream.

VELOX provides the new range in nearly all European countries.