Food and beverage packaging and closures typically need excellent sealing, low extractables and long shelf life. In addition, manufacturers of beauty and personal care packaging often require materials that are clear or brightly colored to attract consumer attention. Ergonomic enhancement is also playing an increasingly important role in packaging applications, and TPEs can be used in coextruded blow molding to enhance the grip of bottles or can be overmolded onto caps, closures and containers to provide an ergonomic grip.
Cap Liners: Thermoplastic elastomers provide exceptional barrier seals while maintaining low torque for easy open characteristics. Custom TPE solutions are available for; cold fill, aseptic, hot fill, pasteurized and retort processing conditions. Regulatory compliance for aqueous, acidic, alcohol and fatty food applications are available with GLS thermoplastic elastomers. TPE benefits include:
- Enhanced product design flexibility
- Longer shelf life
Dispensing Closures: TPEs can provide an economical and recyclable solution that’s available globally. The ability to modify and adjust the tactile feel of the material enables designers to dial in the force required to open / close dispensing valves consistently through the life of the product. In addition, TPEs provide good moisture barrier properties and are recyclable. Other benefits include:
- Ease of opening and closing
- Ease in dispensing
- Resealable with increased portability
Caps, Closures & Containers: Thermoplastic elastomers play a big role in the design of ergonomically enhanced packages that can help aging users accomplish simple tasks such as opening a bottle of aspirin or a jar of coffee. TPEs overmolded onto caps can enable an improved user experience and valuable brand differentiation.
Bottles: TPEs can enhance the interaction between package and consumer in coextruded blow molding. This first-of-its-kind innovation allows designers to add the tactile feel and aesthetics of TPEs to HDPE containers and packaging while keeping costs down and supporting environmental goals. GLS and Kautex Machines, a leader in extrusion blow-molding equipment, jointly developed a solution for co-extruding an ultra-thin outer layer of translucent, customized Dynalloy™ TPE onto recycled or virgin HDPE resin.
