Düsseldorf, Germany — Nova Chemicals has commercialized new polyethylene resin grades with a proprietary PFAS-free polymer processing aid.
Officials with Nova in Calgary, Alberta, said that the firm's new processing aids for flexible packaging applications feature non-fluorinated technology. They added that the new additives "provide the global PE market with the first-ever PFAS-free resin that maintains key performance metrics, helping to meet evolving customer demands along with brand owners' requirements."
The processing aids are free of fluoropolymers, offer comparable or better performance to existing materials and preserve mechanical properties, printability, optics and gels, officials added. The technology will be used in food packaging, e-commerce, heavy duty sack and some blow molding resins, they said.
Nova will have four more resin grades available by the end of the year. The firm intends to transition its entire product portfolio to utilize the new processing aids by the end of 2023. Officials said Nova is the first PE resin maker to provide this option.
In general, processing aids are used by resin makers for melt fracture mitigation and to prevent build-up on production equipment. PFAS refers to a broad class of thousands of chemicals that contain linked carbon and fluorine atoms. Many retailers are looking to eliminate all forms of PFAS from their manufacturing processes.
In an interview at K 2022 in Düsseldorf, Greg DeKunder, PE marketing vice president, said that Nova "is leaning into recycled content" to help customers meet sustainability goals.
"There's an opportunity for polyethylene producers in this space," he said. "Recyclers are good at washing and sorting, but they're not material scientists. We can improve the quality of the [recycled content] product."
DeKunder added that demand for recycled PE is being driven by brand owner commitments. "Challenges still exist, but there's a desire to overcome those challenges," he said. "It's a whole stakeholder claim. There's desire to redesign a package or a film or reduce consumption of raw materials."
Overall, Nova "still sees solid growth" in PE. The firm will bring on around 1 billion pounds of new capacity in Sarnia, Ontario, in the first half of 2023.
"Polyethylene is used in so many applications that it's become important to society," DeKunder said.
Nova is one of North America's largest PE resin makers. The firm employs almost 3,000 worldwide and has annual sales of $3.6 billion.