Borealis and Milliken claim cost and clarity advances for PP bottles

Borealis and Milliken claim cost and clarity advances for PP bottles

PP supplier Borealis and additives company Milliken are poised to unveil a breakthrough in polypropylene bottle production at this year’s K show. The two companies are involved in a project that allows fast, economic production of PP bottles using two-stage injection stretch blow moulding (ISBM).

By speeding up preform production and the stretch blow moulding process, the project has managed to bring what is described as “PET economics” to the production of PP bottles. The companies claim a speed of 1,500 bottles per hour per cavity. No machinery modification has been necessary.

It also competes very well with PET in terms of clarity, the companies claim. The first application will be a water bottle for a packaging company. While PP bottles are unlikely to replace PET completely, they may be more economic in selected applications such as still water and juice.

Borealis has also been involved in a similar project to make bottles using one-stage ISBM – which is slower than two-stage ISBM.