PolyOne Corp. has introduced multiple sustainable materials in 2019.
In September at the 2019 Beverage Packaging Conference in Munich, PolyOne announced the commercial availability of ColorMatrix-brand SmartHeat Re-Heat Clear as part of its circular economy solutions portfolio for recycled PET resins and PET bottles.
SmartHeat RHC is an Association of Plastic Recyclers-accredited additive dispersion for recycled PET and PET preforms. Company officials said that the material enables greater recycled content in PET bottles to reduce carbon emissions and support sustainability by improving the thermal stability of PET throughout the recycling process.
With the new additive, converters and brand owners can use higher concentrations of recycled PET without compromising packaging aesthetics or performance, they added. SmartHeat RHC improves preform and bottle color, clarity, mechanical strength and processability, officials said.
"This additive changes the game for PET recycling and [recycled] PET use," Sustainability Vice President Walter Ripple said in a news release. "Converters now have a solution to address the issues associated with recycled PET and can address the root causes of degradation and discoloration that have previously limited [recycled] PET's potential."
Other recent sustainable product launches for PolyOne include:
• reSound-brand overmolding thermoplastic elastomers, which use between 40-50 percent renewable content derived from sugarcane and offer hardness levels and performance comparable to standard TPEs. The product portfolio includes four overmolding grades compatible with rigid polypropylene and one suited for overmolding onto ABS. The new grades also feature easy colorability, which officials said is a major requirement for applications such as cosmetics packaging, personal care products and consumer electronics.
• OnColor-brand Recovered Carbon Environmental Black. A new color concentrate derived from end-of-life tires, which officials said is a sustainable alternative to those based on virgin carbon black. The material creates a smaller carbon footprint than virgin carbon black because it uses 90 percent less water and 61 percent less electricity while emitting 90 percent less carbon dioxide in its manufacturing process, officials said.
• OnColor-brand Infrared Sortable Black, a new portfolio of infrared-detectable black colorants for plastic packaging, which officials said will allow formerly unrecyclable black waste plastic to be properly sorted at recycling facilities. These colorants will help black packaging support the circular economy by enabling them to be recycled rather than landfilled, they added.
PolyOne is one of North America's 30 largest compounders and concentrate makers, according to Plastics News data.
