Major chemicals and plastics producer LyondellBasell (Rotterdam / The Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) has added two new PP grades to its “Purell” range of resins used in pharmaceutical, healthcare, laboratory and diagnostics applications. Homopolymer PP Purell HP548N is ideally suited for injection moulding and offers an optimised balance between fluidity, stiffness and crystallisation behaviour, according to LyondellBasell. Customers use the grade in vials, pill strips, medical devices, syringe plungers and rigid containers and have reported savings in time, cost and energy during processing.

The second grade, Purell RP315M, is a random copolymer said to offer a good balance of physical/mechanical and optical properties for cast film applications. LyondellBasell said this grade features excellent sealing performance, an additive package containing slip and anti-blocking agents, low gel content with good optical and aesthetic properties and a wide processing window. Typical applications include packaging of medical devices, cosmetics, flexible packaging, labware, and pharmaceutical caps and closures.

Rodney Fox, marketing manager of LyondellBasell Polypropylene Healthcare Europe, said the additional grades help to address its customers’ specialised product needs.