Nova Chemicals (Calgary, Alberta / Canada; www.novachem.com) has developed a high-density PE resin for the biaxially oriented polyethylene (BOPE) market. The HD-BOPE technology enables the manufacture of all polyethylene, multilayer film structures with significantly improved physical performance compared with blown film, the company said, adding that it can enable manufacturers to realise fully recyclable PE monomaterial structures without losing stiffness and print clarity.

Monomaterial films are regarded as critical for brand owners to achieve their commitments to make all plastic packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable. Alan Schrob, consumer and industrial films group manager for Nova Chemicals’ PE business, said, “Our HD-BOPE technology provides an additional building block for converters to make recyclable multilayer films that perform as well as traditional mixed-material structures.”

The Canadian chemicals and plastics producer has been working with German film equipment manufacturer Brückner Maschinenbau (Siegsdorf; www.brueckner.com) to accelerate the technology’s development and commercialisation. Sebastian Ruhland, Brückner Maschinenbau’s senior sales manager, said it has been receiving positive feedback from converters that are using the new resin. Ideal applications for the HD-BOPE films are in food packaging, heavy duty sacks, e-commerce and other demanding areas. The German company has also supplied Bulgarian film specialist Plastchim-T (Tervel / Bulgaria; www.plastchim-t.com) with a line to produce the recyclable BOPE film (see Plasteurope.com of 28.02.2020).

In April this year, Nova Chemicals sold its half share in the Novealis Holdings joint venture to partner Borealis (Vienna / Austria; www.borealisgroup.com – see Plasteurope.com of 21.04.2020).