The technology revolves round a proprietary non-mineral-oil carrier in a range of new colors produced by the company’s Rite Systems Business Unit and is suitable for extrusion blowmolding of HDPE, which is most commonly used for plastic bottles for products such as shampoo and hand soaps.
The new Masterbatch liquids were unveiled during last week’s HBA expo, held in New York city, and the company says that the new colors that form the range will initially only be made available in North America.
Clariant says that it developed the technology because it adds flexibility to the HDPE coloring process, allowing the plastic to be processed as liquid masterbatches, which is far easier and less expensive to carry out.
HDPE meets liquid coloring
Until now liquid coloring has not been commonly used in HDPE packaging due to problems caused by the mineral-oil carrier creating parison stability problems and screw slippage hindering color distribution.
However, Clariant claims its new technology tackles these issues because it is based on liquid colors at higher concentrations than the solid coloring methods, without incurring such processing problems.
“Pretty much anything you could do in HDPE with solid masterbatches can now be done with these liquid colors, thanks to this new carrier,” said Peter Prusak, head of Clariant Masterbatches.
The company also claims that batch testing has shown that the technology has no adverse effect on top-load tests while it also has the added advantage of acting as an anti-stat, eliminating the need for additives.
Color is crucial to consumer take up
It has always been of crucial importance in the ever-competitive personal care sector to ensure that products stand out on store shelves.
This is why packaging innovation is a vital part of the game plan for most personal care players, and one that has grown even more important given the state of the retail market and the subsequent downturn in personal care sales and the resulting impact on margins.
With so many personal care players offering so many products directly pitched against one another, often an eye-catching packaging design or color can be a make or break factor.