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MOSCOW (MRC) -- NOVA Chemicals
(Calgary, Alberta, Canada) says it has developed a new technology for the
production of high-density biaxially-oriented polyethylene (HD-BOPE) films, said
Chemweek.
Biaxial
orientation extends the physical characteristics of high-density polyethylene
(HDPE) films, enabling the manufacture of fully recyclable high-performance film
structures without mixing resin types.
“Brand owners and consumers are looking for easy-to-recycle packaging that
prevents contamination and extends the shelf life of their products,” explains
Alan Schrob, group manager/consumer and industrial films at Nova. “Our HD-BOPE
technology provides an additional building block for converters to make
recyclable multilayer films that perform as well as traditional mixed-material
structures."
HD-BOPE films can be printed before they are laminated to a
sealant film made from lower density polyethylene. Nova has been working with
Bruckner Maschinenbau (Siegsdorf, Germany), a leading manufacturer of film
stretching lines, to accelerate the development and commercialization of the
technology. “We have been very pleased with the performance of Nova Chemicals’
products on our equipment and are getting positive feedback from the converters
who are making film with it as well,” says Sebastian Ruhland, senior sales
manager at Bruckner Maschinenbau. “We believe this technology will open
completely new possibilities to provide PE films for 100% monomaterial packaging
films as an answer to the recyclability challenges we’re facing."
As MRC
informed
earlier, Borealis AG and NOVA Chemicals Corporation has announced they have
reached an agreement for Borealis to buy NOVA Chemicals’ 50% ownership interest
in Novealis Holdings LLC (Novealis). Formed in 2018, Novealis is the joint
venture between affiliates of Borealis and NOVA Chemicals, which subsequently
formed a 50/50 joint venture with an affiliate of Total S.A. to launch Bayport
Polymers LLC (Baystar) in Houston, Texas, US.
As MRC reported
earlier, in January 2017, NOVA Chemicals announced the start up of its new
world-scale linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) gas phase reactor at its
Joffre, Alberta site.
Besides, NOVA Chemicals expanded ethylene production capacity by 20% at its
cracker in Corunna, Ontario from the previous capacity of about 839,000 tpy. The
expansion occurred between 2014 and 2018 and was part of a wave of expansions
and upgrades to NOVA's existing facilities near Sarnia, Ontario. Other upgrades
in the plan included a debottlenecking of the Moore low-density polyethylene
(LDPE) line and a retrofit of the Moore high-density polyethylene (HDPE)
line.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report,
Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four
month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear
low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the
increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim.
NOVA Chemicals
Corporation is a plastics and chemical company headquartered in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, and is wholly-owned ultimately by Mubadala Investment Company
of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. |
