Production is taking place at the manufacturing facility in Teesside, UK, which the firm claims is the world's largest LDPE plant.
SABIC LDPE 2801TH00W resin is the first MD LDPE grade from the company and the initial product in a planned series of innovative grades in the 928 to 935 g/cm3 density range.
The grade is designed for collation shrink packaging of food and beverages, such as multi-packs of bottles.
Film benefits
A higher level of stiffness streamlines cutting to enable higher converting speeds and other processing improvements include bubble stability and welding properties, said SABIC.
The film’s high stiffness and puncture resistance enable down-gauging without sacrificing strength.
“We are on track in our planned expansion of Teesside’s capabilities to offer European customers a portfolio of specialty materials for food, beverage and hygienic packaging,” said Ben Raven, technical marketing engineer, SABIC.
“In addition to their high quality, attractive aesthetics and excellent processing characteristics, our new MD LDPE films promote sustainability in packaging.
“Because the materials are relatively stiff, they enable very thin gauges that reduce overall resource usage, which also results in less waste.”
The 400,000 ton per annum high-pressure SABIC plant at the Wilton International site in Teesside came on stream in the second half of 2009.
Market testing
During the pre-commercialization phase the SABIC LDPE 2801TH00W resin was market tested by customers, who noted the product’s superior optical properties, said SABIC.
Raven added: “A key example of these optical properties is SABIC LDPE 2801TH00W resin, which was approved recently by a Spanish converter for use as a medium duty collation shrink film.
“The resin converts very easily under normal processing conditions, yet delivers an outstanding combination of gloss and transparency, definitely exceeding other resins used for the same application.”