GE Introduces New Lexan® Resin - Illuminate™ Effect Designed to Help Water Bottlers Leverage Brand Image

01 Mar 2005

GE Plastics unveiled a brilliant edge glow effect for five-gallon water bottles made with LEXAN polycarbonate resin. The new effect called Illuminate™ helps the eye-catching bottles featured at the International Bottle Water Association’s Convention and Tradeshow add visual impact that bottlers can use to help cash in on their brand equity and seal customer loyalty. “This new GE Plastics LEXAN resin grade transforms invisible light to create a brilliant edge glow effect that accents a water bottle by simulating an interior light source,” said Doug Hamilton, GE Plastics product manger. “Bottlers can use an Illuminate effect and color to help create five-gallon water bottles with greater consumer appeal.” LEXAN Illuminate resin for blow molding joins another GE Visualfx™ portfolio effect introduced to the water bottle industry in 2000 – LEXAN resin with the Light Diffusion™ effect – which combines transparency, diffusion and eye-catching color to both hide and reveal the contents of a water bottle. Both resins are part of the Visualfx portfolio of effects that are formulated with the color and effect inherent in the pellet to create colorful and exceptionally rich looking products like water bottles out of the mold. “Traditionally, LEXAN resin offers bottlers a competitive advantage because it can be used to make very lightweight and impact resistant water bottles,” Hamilton said. “Now, with the new Illuminate effect, bottlers can look beyond the cost savings advantages to increasing their growth by building valuable brand recognition.” Bottlers can use LEXAN resin with the Illuminate or Light Diffusion effect to help further enhance their water bottles’ aesthetics by coupling either effect with GE Plastics’ in-mold decoration (IMD) technology to create visually distinctive five-gallon water bottles with exceptionally durable labeling. Instead of paper or post-molded screen-printed labels, which tend not to age well or last long, bottlers can have the artwork of their label printed on and sealed behind naturally transparent LEXAN film, which is then incorporated into the blow molding process, to create a crisp, colorful and new appearance even after prolonged use. “Aesthetics is an integral part in the development of an overall brand strategy,” Hamilton said. “The Illuminate effect in LEXAN resin can deliver the emotional punch or ‘wow factor’, which can drive consumers to pick a particular bottler’s brand out of a sea of competitors.” GE Plastics has a long and rich history of developing new technologies and materials for use by the portable water industry. Pioneering resin technology has created LEXAN blow molding resin grades that add clarity, purity, and durability to water bottles. GE Plastics is a leading global manufacturer of high performance engineering thermoplastics, with manufacturing facilities and technology and innovation centers around the world. GE Plastics supplies a spectrum of high performance resins and application development resources to help its customers achieve a competitive edge through performance and design differentiation.