Additives: New Color Effects for PET Packaging

Unusual color effects for PET packaging have been developed by Penn Color, Doylestown, Penn., the newest additions to the company’s Penneffex portfolio of colors and effects. Key among them are bicolor, thermocromic and phosphorescent PET bottles for the beverage market.

Developed in collaboration with Husky Injection Molding Systems and designed and engineered by PET Engineering, these unique packages use proprietary pigment compounds developed by the Penneffex team, introduced in a multi-layer structure. According to marketing manager Phil Riccardi, the company developed a proprietary pigment masterbatch that will not cause delamination when using thermocromic or fluorescents in the middle layer. New glow-in-the-dark special effect masterbatches used in the middle layer and new brushed-metal special effects used in the outer layer were also displayed. According to Riccardi, the company’s focus in on developing new bottle concepts and will soon expand to formulations for HDPE bottles, with the installation of a new three-layer HDPE blow molding line at new R&D center now underway.