Freezer-grade rigid packaging resins

The Polyolefins and Elastomers (PO&E) Business Group of Dow Chemical recently launched Dowlex IP 51, a new "freezer-grade" HDPE engineered to provide improved performance and processability over traditional versions.

According to Spyro Petsalis, market manager for PO&E?s Rigid Packaging, demand is on the rise for packaging products that are thinner, lighter, and have adequate stiffness and high impact strength, especially at cold temperatures. "Our trend analysis shows that food containers in general are expected to grow by 3% annually until 2005," he says.

Dowlex IP51 has a melt index of 50 and a density of .947 for better impact resistance, excellent processability, and cold-temperature properties that fit well with frozen food applications such as ice cream and sherbet containers. Other applications include a broad range of thin-wall injection molded packaging applications, such as yogurt cups, deli and dairy containers, and drinking cups.

Petsalis adds, "The high melt index of this resin provides several processing advantages, including improved cycle times, high lot-to-lot consistency, and the ability to be used in high-cavitation molds, which improve overall productivity."

Dow Chemical
Midland, MI
(800) 441-4369
www.dow.com