Milliken & Company, specialized in polymer additive and colorant capabilities, continues to broaden the range of sustainable solutions it offers to help customers improve their resin formulations, compounds and end products. Milliken will be showcasing this growing product portfolio at Interplastica 2022 in Russia (Jan. 25-28).
Milliken’s Millad® NX® 8000 ECO clarifier is the latest addition to its market-leading Millad NX 8000 product range, used to produce the durable, fully transparent, highly recyclable material known as NX UltraClear™ PP. Millad NX 8000 ECO offers the added benefit of faster production rates, contributing to average energy savings of 10% for the production of clarified polypropylene (PP) parts — a fact independently certified by Underwriters Laboratories (UL). The U.S.-based Association of Plastic Recyclers also recognizes the ECO grade for its compatibility with plastic packaging recycling. The technology is fully compatible with PP recycling processes in Europe and poses no recyclability issues, according to RecyClass, a cross-industry initiative that works to advance plastic packaging recyclability.
Several Milliken additives serve to enhance polypropylene’s performance properties. One such product is its Hyperform® HPN® family, certain grades of which will be on display at Interplastica. Among them there is Hyperform HPN 715, which maximizes stiffness without sacrificing impact, offering convertors a viable option to replace engineering plastics with cost-effective PP materials in demanding applications such as automotive components and appliance parts. Then Hyperform HPN 909ei offers improved aesthetics for thermoformed parts made in PP homopolymers and mini-random copolymers. It is also developed with a cleaner chemistry to address concerns related to migration, especially in food-contact applications such as food trays and drink cups. Moreover, it has one SML (Specific Migration Limit) less than the previous generation of product. Finally Hyperform HPN 500ei not only provides high stiffness but also improves optics to thermoformed homo-PP products (i.e., drink cups and lids etc.), making these parts looking cleaner, fresher and clearer.
Milliken’s DeltaMax® Performance Modifiers for PP contribute to a circular economy by enhancing the impact strength and melt-flow properties of recycled polypropylene (rPP) resins, blends and PP impact copolymers (ICPs), in many cases elevating them to the levels of virgin resins, or beyond. In particular, DeltaMax 5000a allows resin producers to balance the properties of ICP resins more effectively and thereby increase their overall performance. DeltaMax-modified resins can maximize impact strength and melt flow without compromising stiffness performance. This enables compounders and converters to incorporate up to 100% recycled PP without sacrificing performance or processing. Milliken’s DeltaFlow™ Viscosity Modifiers, meanwhile, specifically help recyclers by increasing rPP’s melt flow rate for the extrusion and injection molding processes, thereby enabling converters to reduce cycle times, boost productivity and improve processability.
Other important products are Milliken’s KeyPlast® colorants for plastics, which can be used by liquid and solid masterbatch producers, resin producers and compounders, and are suitable for use with a wide range of polymer and resins systems. Of particular note is the FDA-compliant KeyPlast colorant range for polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which can be used to create distinctive shades in both transparent and opaque applications. Ideal of food-contact applications, this range is well suited for beverage bottles, pharmacopeia containers, and for products that require differentiated design.