DuPont develops ‘safe’ antistat for food packaging

DuPont has developed a new amine-free antistatic solution for bi-axially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) and polypropylene (PP) films that has been formulated to ensure safer chemistry for food packaging.
 
Grindsted AR100 is being marketed as a means to avoid traditional ethoxylated amine chemistry as brand owners and material suppliers push for safe chemistry in food packaging, DuPont said.
 
Grindsted AR100 will be shown on the DuPont stand at NPE 2012, taking place April 2-5 in Orlando, Florida, alongside other bio-based additives resulting from the recent acquisition of Danisco. DuPont acquired Danisco – a global producer of food emulsifiers – in May 2011, and this now forms the basis of DuPont’s nutrition and health division. Included in the acquisition were Danisco's five emulsifier manufacturing plants in Europe, the US, Malaysia, China and Brazil. DuPont said its Polymer Additives section takes this safe, non-contentious food ingredient chemistry and applies the technology to the polymer industry.
 
Grindsted AR100 will also be the subject of a science and technology talk in the Technology Theater on April 3 during NPE.
 
Bjarne Nielsen, senior applications manager in DuPont’s Polymer Additives division, said: ‘DuPont has strength and depth in antistat solutions for polyolefins, and our new product is something that the market has been seeking for some time. Antistats are an important additive in many different packaging applications serving a well-defined purpose: preventing the attraction of dust and other fine particles to the polymer surface that would otherwise render a packaged product unattractive.
 
‘There is a widespread desire today to avoid traditional ethoxylated amine chemistry wherever possible as demands for unquestioned safe chemistry in food packaging grow steadily.’
 
Mick Potenza, DuPont Polymer Additives US account manager, said: ‘Brand owners are striving to improve all aspects of product safety, and the fact that Grindsted AR100 can be used at any loading level to obtain the optimal, desired performance and that it is a 1:1 alternative makes it an obvious choice in PP packaging applications.
 
‘We expect the product to be a leader in its field on both sides of the Atlantic.’