Jun 23 2009
An everyday item used in the kitchen can still be beautiful. At NPE 2009, Milliken Chemical, a division of Milliken & Company, is showcasing a cutlery tray from Italian manufacturer Guzzini that offers stunning design as well as practical functionality and environmental responsibility - thanks to the use of polypropylene (PP) clarified with Millad NX8000 agent.
Guzzini Cutlery Tray Made with Milliken’s Millad® NX8000 Clarifying Agent
This injection-molded tray was originally made with styrene acrylonitrile (SAN), but Guzzini redesigned the product using clarified PP to reduce cost, boost impact resistance and enhance sustainability. The deciding factor was the exceptional clarity that Milliken's Millad NX8000 agent can achieve.
Millad NX8000 clarifier is designed for use in PP, and offers a typical 50 percent reduction in haze compared to the current industry standard. It is driving expanded use of cost-effective PP as a replacement for other clear materials.
The Guzzini tray is Milliken's entry into the NPE 2009 International Design Competition, and is on display here at the Milliken exhibit, booth 54055 in the south building. "This elegantly simple utensil tray is a perfect example of the expanding use of clarified PP," said Dede Meade, North America market manager for Milliken Chemical. "With our Millad NX8000 agent, PP achieves clarity approaching that of water-white polymers. As an added bonus, clarified PP is less dense, easier to process, more durable and more sustainable compared to traditional resins."
Clarified polypropylene supports environmental goals in two ways: with its lower density, polypropylene requires less resin than other clear polymers, reducing the amount of non-renewable resources used in manufacture; and it is more easily recycled in the existing waste management infrastructure.