Masterbatch Creates Frosted Glass Look in Molded PET Bottles to Eliminate Need for Painting
CHROMA CORPORATION
3900 W. Dayton Street
McHenry, IL 60050
Contact: Stuart D. Swain
Phone: 815-759-2110
Cell Phone: 815-814-4353
E-mail: sswain@chromacolors.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
McHenry, IL, March 4, 2010– Those who give PET bottles a frosted-glass look for use with high-end cosmetics, personal care, alcohol and other products have, until now, had to spray paint the parts to achieve this premium color effect. A new masterbatch made from Chroma Corporation eliminates the added painting step, reduces time to market and cost by letting processors create a frosted look by using Chroma’s color concentrate at the machine. “The molded frosted plastic bottles are estimated to cost at least 90 percent less than those that are painted, are more durable because the color is molded into the plastic and eliminates the added time and costs associated with the painting process”, says Stuart Swain, Chroma’s Director of Sales and Marketing.
In terms of processing, it works well in sheet extrusion and allows for frosted thermoformed containers. This product can also be formulated with Chroma’s new, proprietary PET binder system that does not require pre-drying yet still preserves the intrinsic viscosity of the PET resin. This allows the processors greater freedom and flexibility to retrieve color concentrates from the warehouse and immediately use on a machine with a feeder.
"Consumer companies are hot on frosted looking plastic packaging because they want to duplicate the fresh, clean and premium appearance of sandblasted glass, with the safety of plastic that does not break when dropped," says Mir Ali, Chroma’s Director of Technology. "Our new FDA sanctioned frosted product does this for PET and other clear resins in one step as part of standard injection molding preform, reheat blow molding bottle process or in a sheet extrusion process. This is a flexible masterbatch. It can, for instance, be tinted to create the soft blue and green tones associated with vintage glass."
The use of different use rates, typically between 1 and 5 percent, allows processors to control the intensity of the frosted effect and provide bottles that range from translucent to opaque. This masterbatch also allows the addition of special effect pigments to enhance the frosted look without the flow lines, pinholes and other issues often encountered when such pigments are used with PET.
About Chroma Corporation
Founded in 1967, Chroma Corporation is a global thermoplastic-compounded raw material leader. Product offerings include the broadest range of custom color, special effect, and specialty additives in masterbatches and precompounded products in commodity and engineering thermoplastic resins. Materials are designed for extrusion, injection molding, blown film and a multitude of other processes and applications including rotational molding. For more information, please visit www.chromacolors.com or e-mail chroma@chromacolors.com
If you would like more information about this topic, please call or e-mail Stu Swain at 815-759-2110 or e-mail Stu at sswain@chromacolors.com.
