October 21, 2022
(press release)
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Borealis announces the launch of the first breakthrough polypropylene (PP) grades based on the groundbreaking Borstar® Nextension Technology, a step change in performance for tailor-made PP that delivers superior properties for cast and blown film. Two BorPure™ film grades that set new standards for PP food packaging, BorPure™ RB787MF and BorPure™ RE539MF, are designed for eco-efficiency and recyclability. The nonwoven grade Borealis HG485FB, also based on Borstar Nextension Technology, offers superior performance characteristics. These and all other Borstar Nextension grades can be made using feedstock from the Bornewables™ and Borcycle™ C portfolios of circular polyolefins. By leveraging its polymers technology expertise, Borealis is offering its partners and customers an ever larger number of solutions providing superior performance paired with enhanced circularity and material efficiency. Borstar Nextension Technology: a breakthrough for PP applications Based on the proprietary Borstar® platform, this groundbreaking technology broadens the range of PP properties by using proprietary, single-site Borstar Nextension catalysts and Borstar PP technology combined with multimodality and comonomer incorporation. Depending on application requirements, this step change in performance enables PP products to be tailored for superior optics and surface functionality, high purity, and sealing and bonding. The result is a spectrum of differentiated solutions that can be used in a variety of industries, including “The Borstar Nextension Technology is a breakthrough innovation that will enable the development of novel and more circular solutions for a wide range of applications, especially in the packaging industry,” says Erik Van Praet, Borealis Vice President Innovation & Technology. “Built on the strong foundation of the Borstar platform and delivered through our profound technology expertise, this innovative blending of functionality and sustainability is in line with our EverMinds™ ambition of accelerating action on circularity.” Borstar Nextension Technology enhances performance, facilitates recyclability and ecoefficiency via downgauging BorPure RB787MF and BorPure RE539MF are the first resins to be made using Borstar Nextension Technology, which is now being scaled up. They have been designed for use in flexible packaging applications such as highly transparent thermoformable films, and sheets and lamination films for pouches and lid films. PP blown film converters benefit from BorPure RB787MF’s excellent and consistent film clarity at high extrusion throughput, very low overall migration, low seal initiation temperature, and high seal strength. PP cast film converters using BorPure RE539MF benefit from its superior transparency, high stiffness balance along with thermal stability, very low overall migration, and clean surfaces. Additional advantages include high packaging line efficiency, excellent packaging integrity, and outstanding organoleptics. The grades have been designed to enable an easier switch from conventional non-recyclable structures to fully recyclable monomaterial PP solutions, thus driving plastics circularity. Also based on Borstar Nextension Technology is Borealis HG485FB, designed for the spunbond process. Thanks to its broad processing window and excellent spinning performance, converters can push the operating window in optimisation of web properties, web coverage, and strength. Compared to conventional resins, Borealis HG485FB provides substantial downgauging potential, thus enabling the more efficient use of resources while maintaining the same high functionality. All grades based on the Borstar Nextension Technology may also be made using circular solutions from the Bornewables and Borcycle C portfolios. The Bornewables™ portfolio consists of polyolefins made with renewable feedstock derived entirely from waste and residue streams such as used cooking and vegetable oil. The virgin-quality grades found in the Borcycle™ C family of chemically recycled solutions are fit for the most demanding applications, including foodcontact and healthcare. Bornewables and Borcycle C grades are ISCC PLUS certified according to the mass balance method that allows the customer to track and quantify the effective renewable (Bornewables) or circular (Borcycle C) feedstock used at each manufacturing step. Selecting grades from these portfolios allows customers to replace fossil fuel-based feedstock with an identical volume of sustainably sourced renewable or circular feedstock – without extra switching costs, and while maintaining the same high application quality. “The launch of the first series of grades based on Borstar Nextension Technology enables customers and brand owners to adopt highly efficient and easily recyclable packaging solutions, all while setting new standards in PP performance,” says Peter Voortmans, Borealis Global Commercial Director Consumer Products. “And it’s just the beginning, as we add more innovative grades to this unique family for use across other industries. This is yet another example of how Borealis is re-inventing essentials for sustainable living.”
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