Kuraray America Celebrates 30th Anniversary With Advances

The 30^th anniversary of Eval EVOH barrier resin production in the U.S. was celebrated by Houston-based Kuraray America, Inc. on March 22, with a behind-the-scenes open house at its Houston plant—an event I was unfortunately unable to attend.

The four-day “Pearls of Wisdom” event included an executive session highlighting the industry collaboration that has driven Eval EVOH application development and growth, technical seminars, and training opportunities.

Japan’s Kuraray remains the world’s first and largest producer of EVOH (having celebrated its 90^th anniversary last year). High-barrier EVOH resins have shown their excellent suitability for preserving quality and avoiding waste in food, medical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and industrial packaging. Moreover, these materials have proven their mettle in helping to use energy more efficiently and reduce environmental impacts in automotive fuel systems, building and construction materials, and agricultural films.

Kuraray America, Inc.'s lead in barrier materials also includes Plantic, a bio-based polymer with barrier properties. To make up for missing the event, the company gave us the highlights of its most recent developments in materials and applications. They include:

● Specialty grades Eval AP—an oxygen-scavenging grade of EVOH—and Eval FS, an EVOH with excellent flex-crack resistance for pouches.

● ETC, a purging material designed for EVOH processing.

● GF, a new recycling agent for use in processing EVOH regrind.

● Eval XEP 1393 monolayer film that allows for simultaneous orientation and ideally suited for use in double-bubble applications/shrink wrap.

● Eval XEP 1284 monolayer film with excellent flex-crack resistance that is targeted to bag-in-box applications.