Collapsible tubes extruded using Sabic’s new HDPE F4520 material have an improved aesthetic appearance and squeezability, the petrochemicals and plastics company says.
Easy to process, Sabic's HDPE F4520 can be used in monolayer tubes, in coextrusions and laminates, the Netherlands-based company says, and can also be blended with other polyethylenes with the same melt flow range.
Tubes extruded with the new material are said to gain “an important advantage over aluminium” thanks to HDPE F4520’s high flexibility, which means tubes can be squeezed repeatedly without puncturing.
And for tube manufacturers, the high consistency of the material helps to ensure optimum aesthetics in decoration and printing – a factor that will enhance chances of customers’ approval of the new grade.
“Even very small imperfections in the polymer could show up on the printed surface,” says Sabic technical marketing engineer Shyam Parameswaran. “We have a stringent internal gel count control in place to ensure material quality.”
Very strong optical properties, gloss and transparency provide good contact clarity when required, and production can be optimised through the ease of welding of tubes and necks.
“We expect Sabic HDPE F4520 to make important inroads into the European market for collapsible tubes, which currently numbers around 10 billion units per year,” says Patrick van der Meer, Sabic technical marketing engineer.
“At present, just over half of these are in plastics. The total market is increasing above GDP growth levels, and the share of plastics in that market is also increasing.”
Headquartered in Saudi Arabia, Sabic has a complete portfolio of polyolefins for flexible tubes, with grades for injection moulded shoulders and caps as well as for extruded bodies.
Sabic: 'the complete solution for flexible tube packaging'
