The company says the division is focused on polproplyene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) materials and applications development that are designed around bringing enhanced sustainability and competitive advantages for a variety of industries, including personal care.
Sabic recently highlighted its focus on the caps and closures market with a presentation at the two-day conference held in Brussels - Caps & Closures 2010 - which was given by its international account manager, Stephen Eltink.
Innovation in Caps & Closures
The presentation, entitled ‘Culture of Innovation in Caps & Closures’, drew attention to the company’s creation of more environmentally responsible products, the growing division between commodity and value-added closures and volatility in the raw materials market.
During the presentation, Eltink also stressed the fact that because the company has operations in both Europe and the Middle East, this gives it increased access to resources and assets in both markets, as well as helping to ensure long-term supply of resins.
Likewise, the presentation also highlighted the fact that the company is continuing to develop new technologies around both PP and PE materials, aimed at enhancing performance, sustainability and reducing costs.
HDPE organo grades
One example of this is the company’s HDPE organo grades for bottle caps, which use high-efficiency slurry technology in an attempt to reduce the environmental impact involved in the manufacturing of the product.
This not only serves to better protect the bottle's contents (which in this particular case was water), but also reduced the carbon footprint of the packaging by 17 per cent when compared to similar gas phase technology.
Marion Scholle, Sabic business manager for its HDPE Europe division, explained how the company successfully tackled the sustainability issue for the manufacturing of the product.
Slurry process reduced emmisions
“Traditional methods used a great deal of energy,” he said. “We used our innovative slurry process that produces HDPE with superior oranolepitc properties but requires much less energy.
Back in October the company launched a new clear film for packaging also claimed to be both cost efficient and sustainable. The new film is the result of pioneering technology that has led to the creation of low-density polyethelene and linear low-density polyethylene film.
The multi-layer film can be used for compression packaging, lamination and as shrink film and can be used on packaging that is already comprised of up to five layers of materials.