Borealis promotes clarified PP as a replacement for PC

Borealis has launched a more transparent extrusion blowmolding grade of polypropylene (PP) specifically designed for cosmetics and baby bottles, with an eye on capturing market share forsaken by polycarbonate (PC), which continues to deal with concerns around bisphenol A (BPA).

The company said its Borclear RC737MO offers a "leap forward" in aesthetics by influencing the gloss, haze and clarity of bottles.

"Borclear RC737MO is the clear advance in transparency that the safety-conscious, aesthetically-driven cosmetics and baby sectors have been looking for when selecting PP for their product or packaging," stated Rainer Höfling, Borealis VP business unit moulding in the news release.

Using this new process, the haze value, an established indicator describing opacity, can be reduced by 25%.

The new PP bottles can be processed by applying the usual processing settings for random PP grades, with barrel temperatures in the range of 190-220°C. Its higher melt strength enables converters to more easily regulate wall thickness.

This practice enables consistent and enhanced processing combined with good reproducibility as well as greater design flexibility, the company stated in a press release. In addition, the lower weight variations should reduce the potential for breakage during transportation and use.

From a sustainable viewpoint, the fully recyclable PP bottle can also contribute to lower resource consumption and CO2 emissions from the processing cycle through weight reduction.

Borealis is positioning clarified PP as a replacement for PC, which continues to face concerns over the presence of BPA in consumer products from baby bottles to food cans, with PC having been phased out of certain items. The FDA apparently will issue a final decision sometime in 2012 regarding a possible ban on the use of BPA in food packaging.