Ready-to-use peel polymers offer resilience and easy opening

09 Nov 2010

Versatility, seal reliability and easy opening are benefits claimed by Dow Chemical for its new range of peel polymer formulations for food packaging.

The US-based giant said its Sealution polyolefin-based, single pellet formulations offer a raft of advantages compared to conventional resins and blends. The ready-to-use material is suitable for use in blown and cast film applications and with polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP) substrates. They can also be utilised across a broad range of peel seal applications, such as pouches, lidstock, and more, said the firm.

As well as being resilient, Dow said the polymer offers ease of opening with no tear stringing.

“Think of opening the bag inside the cereal box, the bag-like sleeve used to keep crackers fresh in the box, or even a package of cheese,” said Julia Schlenz, European strategic marketing manager. “Dow’s peel polymer technology does a good job of keeping those bags reliably intact through the packaging and shipping process – yet also allows the bags to peel open easily when consumers pull to open them. The result – the package requires less effort, and opens reliably where it should.”

Another advantage is that the polymers come fully formulated and therefore require no further on-line blending by packaging converters. They also offer reliable peel performance and fewer defects thanks to the low process variability, said the company.

“This advanced technology offers converters consistent, efficient and economical processing, as well as the flexibility to match formulation and clarity requirements to specific package applications,” added a Dow statement.

Functional polymer extension

The firm also announced it has extended its Amplify Functional Polymers range with the new Amplify TY material specifically formulated for use in multi-layer packaging. The latest materials include a versatile collection of interlayer adhesion products used in a wide range of barrier packaging applications. These adhesive tie-layers stick barrier materials together with film or other substrates used in flexible packaging and help to improve package performance overall, said Dow.

As well as being suitable for current polyethylene and polystyrene based barrier film structures, they can also be used for developmental products for polypropylene based barrier film structures. The firm also said that ongoing research could yield breakthroughs such as new products for PET-based barrier film structures.

North American marketing manager Chris Urheim said the company had been able to extend the product’s capabilities thanks to the “powerful combination of research, knowledge and expertise” realised in the wake of its takeover of Rohm and Haas.

Source: Dow Chemical