Eastman’s Tritan expands application reach, pairs with PolyOne to go further

Eastman’s Tritan copolyester continues to make inroads in the consumer housewares market, gaining momentum through its mix of properties and public concerns over the presence of bisphenol A (BPA) in competitive material polycarbonate (PC). At NPE2009, Dante Rutstrom, VP and general manager of Eastman’s Specialty Plastics Business, said that since its launch in 2007, Tritan has signed on 90 OEMs to market their products as utilizing the copolyester, working to get the sort of brand recognition that made DuPont’s Teflon a household name. The company’s Ingredient Branding Program, which launched in August 2008, recently signed on Key Baby LLC and Lock&Lock.
 

Eastman’s Tritan EX401 copolyester is being used by Weil Baby for its new line of injection stretch blowmolded baby bottles, which launch in North America this summer.

Key Baby co-founder and CEO Steve Schmidt took part in a press event with Eastman at NPE2009 to talk about his company’s choice of Tritan for the range of Weil Baby bottles, which will launch this summer with exclusive sales at BabiesRUs starting in July. Key Baby partnered with Dr. Andrew Weil on the line, which will also include sippy cups and nipples. The injection stretch blowmolded (ISBM) bottles, as well as the silicone nipples, will be made in the U.S., in a bid for “quality control” according to Schmidt. Key Baby will be the first to utilize the Tritan EX401 in an ISBM process for baby bottles; the material can also be used in extrusion blowmolding and injection molding. Schmidt said that a blanket promise by several large retailers to remove bottles with BPA has resulted in a de facto ban on the material and opened the door to replacements.

Eastman also used NPE2009 to announce the launch of a new family of opaque blends through partner PolyOne based on Tritan to be called Edgetek EX. PolyOne says the blends are well suited for hand-held device applications and any products that need a durable housing, like GPS systems, binoculars, sporting goods, and more. Craig Nikrant, VP and general manager for specialty engineered materials at PolyOne, said the two companies entered into a strategic market-development agreement last year —[email protected]