May 29 2009
LyondellBasell has launched two new medium molecular weight (MMW), high density polyethylene (HDPE) resins. The new grades expand the company's range of materials sold to customers for use in a variety of film applications, including food packaging. Alathon M6010 and Alathon M5010 are the latest additions to the Alathon family of solution technology film resins known for their outstanding moisture barrier performance with low gels and excellent organoleptic properties.
"These two new products demonstrate LyondellBasell's continued leadership in the food packaging market and give converters greater flexibility to design their packaging structures," said Michael Pendley, LyondellBasell's Marketing Manager for HDPE films.
Improved moisture barrier performance
Specifically designed to meet emerging needs in the food packaging market, Alathon M6010 is a 1 MI homopolymer that provides outstanding puncture resistance while providing excellent moisture barrier (MVTR, WVTR) and oxygen barrier (OTR). "It is critical for these film resins to provide protection against moisture and oxygen degradation to preserve freshness over a long shelf life," said Glenn Cozzone, LyondellBasell's Manager for North American Product Development. Lab testing has shown that Alathon M6010 significantly improves moisture barrier performance for dry food packaging applications such as cereal, snack cracker and cake mix box liners. This resin increases moisture barrier vs. benchmark grades by approximately 30 per cent without sacrificing properties such as processability, tear and impact.
Improved film toughness
Alathon M5010 is a 1 MI copolymer resin that was designed to provide improved toughness for a variety of film applications, from mono layer to multi layer structures. The tear performance of film produced with M5010 increased by about 20 per cent, while the high speed puncture resistance increased by 40 per cent. The improved properties of these two resins will allow converters to design barrier film that provides an improved balance of shelf-life performance and package strength.
Alathon M6010 and Alathon M5010 are currently manufactured in the United States and available for export.