PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2016

COLOURANTS / ADDITIVES 8 PET planet Insider Vol. 17 No. 12/16 www.petpla.net COLOURANTS / ADDITIVES 8 PET additives The new colour trends for 2017 are high gloss metallic, attractive yet functional Definitely metallic! The impulse to buy is almost always driven by subconscious emotions, espe- cially for consumer items. And there is no design element more suited to influ- ence emotion than colour. Colour trends mirror the spirit of the times and attitude of life and are thus constantly changing. Experienced specialists are continuously monitoring these trends. International colour studies and trend reports are evaluated regularly in order to translate emerging global colour trends for customers’ applications. Based on these observations, colourists and technicians develop new and contemporary colour masterbatch collections for plastics. Having observed the major trends running through modern life and society, specialists came up with a high gloss metallic finish for PET bottles in 2017. Taking advantage of this colour trend, packaging manufactur- ers now have the opportunity to give their products more impact on the shelf. The metallic gloss effect is achieved during the pro- duction process: additives create tiny bubbles inside the semi-crystalline resins which, when stretched during blow moulding, reflect light and shine to create a high-gloss, metallic appearance. The range of colours is also being used for personal care and consumer goods industries. More details can be found in the Polyone article. Whilst the metallic effect is a major factor at the POS, the PET bottle must also serve an important functional purpose, namely to hold and protect the contents. The first priority is to protect the product from light. There are different kinds of light which could irradiate into the pack- age, for example sunlight or fluorescent store light. A UV barrier is needed to protect and preserve the shelf life of the product. Various barrier solutions are available, and some of them are described in the Holland Colours and Sukano articles. Significant new challenges are arising for the PET industry: for example, how to deal with the rPET when masterbatches are added. The Ener Plastics article provides information about their products and how they deal with, for example, melt strength. SDWHQWV UHVHDUFKHUV DQG WHFKQLFLDQV LQVWDOOHG SODQWV EUDQFKHV ZRUOGZLGH ,I ZH KDGQêW JRQH VR IDU ZH ZRXOGQêW EH VR QHDU <RXU IXWXUH VHHQ IURP QHDU