Nova Chemicals Corporation to introduce new resin technology for machine direction oriented (MDO) and biaxially oriented (BO) processes to help its customers and brand owners meet their sustainability goals. Nova Chemicals’ innovative technology marks a major advancement in the pursuit of a plastics circular economy, as it enables recyclable all-polyethylene (PE) packaging.
Nova Chemicals, headquartered Canada, has 2,400 employees worldwide and is wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The company’s specialised HDPE resin, SURPASS HPs153-A, is now available to produce 100% high-density MDO films. Due to the broad orientation window, HPs153-A exhibits exceptional stability during production run or manufacturing on commercial scale inline MDO blown film equipment. MDO-HDPE films can be used to replace BOPP and BOPET to produce fully recyclable all-PE laminates with high stiffness to maintain registration for printing and converting, excellent heat resistance to minimise shrinkage during packaging conversion, and outstanding clarity.
Advancing a Circular Economy
Oriented film structures which allow easy-to-recycle all-PE packaging will replace traditional mixed material packaging which is not recyclable. In addition, orientation of PE films allows for property improvements otherwise not attainable in blown or cast films such as enhanced stiffness, toughness, and optical properties. Oriented films are ideal for use in food packaging, heavy duty shipping sacks, e-commerce and other demanding applications.
Owen Lightbody, application development and circular economy leader at Nova Chemicals said, “Nova Chemicals has a bold ambition to create a circular economy for plastic materials. Being able to produce HDPE-based oriented films is a significant step towards our industry’s goal of 100% recyclable packaging.”
Bill Pardo, food packaging market manager of Nova Chemicals said, “According to our April 2022 consumer survey on plastics, packaging and sustainability, half of consumers aged 45 and under reported deliberately purchasing products because the package included a made from recycled materials label. This research further supports our focus on oriented PE films for recyclability.”
World’s first BOPE-HD resin
In 2021, Nova Chemicals introduced its transformative BOPE-HD technology that enabled the manufacture of all-PE, recyclable multilayer film structures with significantly improved physical performance versus blown film. It was the world’s first HDPE resin designed specifically for the demanding to enter frame process.
SURPASS TX150-A enables an all-PE biaxially oriented print web, which can be laminated to an all-PE sealant web for complete recyclability. Last year, several film formulations have been successfully scaled up from pilot scale equipment to commercial lines. Nova Chemicals is working with film producers across multiple regions to establish a global supply of commercial BOPE-HD films.
Additional HDPE supply in 2023
Nova Chemicals’ Advanced SCLAIRTECH (AST) is claimed to be ideal for processes such as mono and biaxial orientation. The company is approximately 90 percent complete with its second AST technology manufacturing site and the third phase of the Corunna Cracker Expansion Project. Nova Chemicals estimates that both projects will commence full start-up activities in late 2022. The new AST polyethylene unit, located at the Rokeby Site in St. Clair Township, Ontario, will have a capacity of approximately one billion pounds per year in 2023.