Eastman Chemical Co. claims its ParaStar line of PET resins " offer enhanced bottle clarity,product purity, production and supply chain efficiencies, as well as significant environmentalbenefits".
The growing use of PET by the food and drinks industries is being driven by the plastic'srecycability and its convenience in relation to glass and metal.
Eastman claims to be the world's largest producer of PET for packaging. The company's ParaStarresin is produced using Eastman's patent-protected manufacturing process for PET.
"Because the solid-stating step has been eliminated, the process reduces energy usage compared to ordinary PET resin productionprocesses," the company stated in describing its IntegRex technology.
The IntegRex technology allows processors to use the ParaStar resins to create PET bottles with"unprecedented" clarity, improved bottle-to-bottle consistency, and with acetaldehyde levels lowered by 25per cent or more. Less acetaldehyde in the resin makes the ParaStar line particularly attractive for bottled wateruse, said Thomas Stevens, vice president and general manager for Eastman's polymers unit.
ParaStar is a drop-in replacement for standard PET on bottle manufacturing equipment. Companies using this resin require no equipment or process changes, eliminating downtime and costly learning curves often associated with the use of new resins.
ParaStar resin is 100 per cent recyclable. They can be recycled with traditional PET resins, thecompany stated.
"Next generation ParaStar resins meet our customers' ever-growing need to build and protect brands, increase profits and enhance their environmental profiles,"Stevens stated.
The ParaStar resins will be commercially available in North America in the first quarter of 2007.