ExxonMobil Chemical Co. has launched a new grade of polyethylene resin to improve performance and profitability in film applications.
Exceed S-brand performance PE is a metallocene PE resin grade that delivers improved stiffness and toughness while being easy to process, officials with ExxonMobil in Spring, Texas, said.
"Packaging design is getting more complex, with escalating performance requirements for e-commerce or to use more recycled content," Tom Miller, PE marketing manager, said in a recent interview with Plastics News. The new material can allow for fewer layers or fewer resins used in film design, he added.
"More complexity means more operators, resins and equipment and can lead to mistakes and downtime," Miller said. "Exceed S is designed to restore simplicity."
Potential uses of the new materials include stand-up pouches, pillow packs, medium-duty bags, hot-fill bag in box and agricultural silo bags. In addition to improved stiffness and toughness, Exceed S can allow for simpler plant operations and more efficient conversion, Miller said.
"It can simplify the entire value chain by reducing product failures and associated costs," he said, adding that in e-commerce uses, Exceed S can improve the performance of air pillow packs.
Other potential benefits of Exceed S include:
• Creating stiff, tough, functional layers to maximize performance.
• Leveraging increased performance for solutions with sustainability benefits.
• Reducing the need to add high density PE for stiffness or low density PE for processing.
• Creating flatter, less extensible films to increase print and package line efficiency.
• Delivering more durable flexible packaging, contributing to consumer satisfaction and helping to reduce food waste.
Three grades of Exceed S PE currently are available. ExxonMobil is making the new materials at its plant in Beaumont, Texas, and already is working with more than 75 customers on more than 100 applications.
ExxonMobil Chemical ranks as one of North America's largest producers of PE, polypropylene and several specialty resins.