Mar 30 2007
Eastman Chemical Company, the world’s largest manufacturer of PET resins for packaging, introduces Aqualor PET, the first and only reheat-enabled PET for still-water bottles. Introduced at the PETnology Conference in Munich, Germany, for the European market, Aqualor PET offers extensive energy efficiencies in preform and bottle production, enhanced product protection and unparalleled appearance.
Aqualor PET combines greatly improved preform and bottle processing with exceptional bottle clarity, gloss and definition of imprints.
“Bottle makers, preform manufacturers and brand owners can all benefit from Eastman’s Aqualor PET,” says Roland Leimbacher, Eastman’s market manager for performance polymers for Europe. “Our new resin is faster and cheaper to mould while actually enhancing end-use appearance and performance -- another example of Eastman ingenuity at work.”
For both preform and bottle manufacturers, Aqualor enables improved processing economics through faster line speeds and lower energy consumption. When blowing bottles, up to 30 percent less energy is required for reheating preforms; further, its low viscosity of 0.72 IV provides not only fastest injection speeds and long lifetime of preform moulds, but also optimal definition of bottle imprints (embossed or engraved).
Enhance Brand Appeal
Most significantly, Aqualor is engineered to produce still-water PET bottles of the highest sparkle and clarity. While other reheat resins often produce an unattractive haze, Aqualor PET results in unsurpassed neck and sidewall clarity, a key to enhancing shelf appeal and brand image.
Aqualor’s ease of moulding and consistent reheat level allows the making of the latest down-gauged designs and complicated bottle shapes. It also provides best-in-class surface definition of embossed or engraved bottle imprints and logos.
Protect Products
Aqualor PET ensures outstanding product protection allowing for long shelf life. Bottles made of Aqualor PET feature low AA (acetaldehyde) values and possess high barrier against loss of carbon dioxide and against ingress of oxygen and other unwanted substances.
“Eastman scientists work closely with key decision-makers throughout the PET value chain,” adds Leimbacher. “Concurrently meeting the processing needs of manufacturers and the market demands of brand owners is a challenge Eastman will continue to meet.”