Italian margarine tub boasts strength, impact-resistance and hot-fill capability

Italian food packager Piber Group selects the Bormod™ BJ368MO PP from Borealis (www.borealisgroup.com), for a group of injection-molded tubs for margarines in Europe. Piber uses the same material for ice-cream tubs and lids. Piber says it chose the Bormod grade for its combination of smooth flow, strength and impact-resistance features retained at temperatures as low as –20 deg C as well and low odor and taste characteristics essential for food-packaging materials. The PP block copolymer allows for margarine tub molding at higher rates more cost-effectively than ever before, according to Borealis. The tubs can be hot-filled. The BJ368MO grade of PP was specifically developed for food-contact applications such as containers for fresh and frozen dairy products, salads and housewares. The grade uses Borealis' Nucleation Technology (BNT), which is said to increase productivity through faster and finer crystallization. Its anti-static additives not only help improve the cleanliness of finished containers, but help reduce cycle times by ensuring smooth demolding, even at temperatures up to 90 deg C.

Piber's technical manager, Paolo Bergaglio, says he is particularly happy that his company upgraded to the new material. “Our customers increasingly demand lighter-weight packaging, with ever stricter criteria for dropping and stacking performance, high quality and good esthetics.”

The PP tub material, the result of intensive research at Borealis into new and improved ways to add value along the value chain, has a melt flow ratio (MFR) of 70 g/10 min, which means processors can produce containers with a wall thickness of as little as 0.4 mm. Combined with the ability of the PP grade to crystallize rapidly at high temperatures can produce lower cycle times by as much as 20 percent, Borealis points out. These processing improvements, together with the excellent end-use properties, translate into the potential to cut part weight by a similar amount. Tubs made with the BJ368MO grade have the impact-resistance needed to minimize breaking problems on filling lines, in-store and at home, with good drop performance in the home refrigerator and freezer.