Materials get colorful makeover

This new family of liquid colors from Clariant Masterbatches’ Rite Systems business unit is aimed at extrusion blow molding of HDPE. (Clariant Masterbatches photo)

HOLDEN, MASS. (Nov. 24, 4:55 p.m. ET) -- Clariant Masterbatches has focused its recent efforts on new materials for the health and cosmetics market.

Enigma Fade-brand special effects use new colorants and multilayer blow molding technology to create looks that can range from subtle to bold, officials with the Holden-based company said in a recent news release.

The updates, unveiled in September at the HBA trade show In New York, included “color-travel” effects, which were displayed in a two-layer bottle with a polyethylene base layer and a surface layer with a bronze-copper pigment. The color is strongest at the base of the bottle and then fades away almost entirely at the top. The product inside will be visible, except toward the bottom of the container.

Clariant also has introduced a new family of liquid colors from its Rite Systems business unit. The liquid colors are aimed at extrusion blow molding of high density PE. In product testing, the new liquid colors had no adverse effects on top-load tests. Containers made using the liquid colors also passed 7-foot drop tests.

Clariant’s 2008 acquisition of Rite Systems, a liquid-color maker in West Chicago, Ill., expanded Clariant’s opportunities in the liquid-color sector, officials said.

Both the Enigma Fade special effects and the new liquid colors for HDPE demonstrate Clariant’s efforts to keep pace with changing design requests, North American business director Steve Snow said in a recent phone interview.

“Designers are concerned about more things than ever before,” he said. “They want eye-popping special effects at reasonable prices.”

Clariant also recently installed a new production-scale blow molding machine in Holden for completing color studies and producing prototype bottles. The machine can produce monolayer, two- and three-layer structures in any plastic commonly used in personal-care packaging. Snow said the machine was added to Clariant’s design and technology center after the firm received numerous requests from East Coast-based customers.

Clariant Masterbatches is a unit of chemicals maker Clariant Ltd. of Muttenz, Switzerland.

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