Plastic as a Packaging

Material

Mrs. Kirteebala Pawar

 What are
plastics?
Plastics may be defined as any group of substance, of natural or
synthetic origins, consisting chiefly of polymers of high molecular
weight, that can be moulded into a shape or form by heat & pressure.

They usually consist of large molecules of organic materials which are

based on certain building block molecules, undergo a process known as
polymerization, a plastic or long chain polymer is produced.

Other material such as accelerators, initiators, solvents & catalystcan

be added during polymerization to improve the characteristics.
 Advantag
 Light weight
es
 Reduced volume (warehousing & distribution cost reduction)
 No corrosion problems
 Good resistance to mould & bacteria.
 Generally inert chemically, but be wary of “solvents”
Usually have good impact strength; difficult to break, if breakage
occurs fragments tend to be less hazardous than glass.
 Wide design & decorative possibilities.
 Disadvantag

es
 No plastic is totally impermeable to moisture, gases etc.
Most plastics permit some passage of light. Even highlypigmented
plastics & those with UV absorber are likely to let certain
wavelengths through.
 Many are difficult to clean or are liable to attract dust & dirt
under unfavorable conditions.
 May be permeable to, or subject to attack by, organic
substances, particularly solvents.
 Subject to adsorption or absorption according to
formulation ingredient.
Light weight & thin wall section may requirespecific
production line handling.
 Fully effective closing systems are sometimes
difficult to achieve.
 Certain designs may show panelling or cavitation
 Types of
1) Thermoplastic Polymers
Plastics
-These are heat softening materials which can be repeatedlyheated,
made mobile & then reset to a solid state by cooling.
- Under conditions of fabrication they can be moulded bytemperature
& pressure.
-Eg. Polyethylene, PVC, polystyrene, polypropylene, nylon, polyester
2) Thermosetting Polymer
-These are polymers produced by a polymerization process involving a
curing or vulanisation stage during which the material becomes ‘set’
to a permanent state by heat & pressure.
-Further heating leads to decomposition of the plastic.
-Eg. Phenolics, melamine, urea, alkyds, epoxides, certain polyesters &
polyurathanes, cross linked polymers.
 Plastics Used For
Packaging
1. High Density Polyethylene
(HDPE)

Characteristics:
 Low – cost
 Moderately flexible
 Stiffer and has better barrier properties
Chemical resistant
 Poor clarity
 Translucent in natural state and can be
tinted with any opaque color.
Odorless and tasteless
Advantag
es
 Low-cost
 Good moisture barrier
 Not attack by most solvent

Disadvantages
 Poor barrier for oxygen & other gases
 Odors and flavors are sometimes lost
 Perfume or flavoring oil can transpire rapidly
 Stress-crack in the presence of some product
 Applicatio
 For thin-wall blow-ns
moulded containers
 Injection moulding of closures
Rotational moulding for large containers such as
carboys
Industrial and consumer bags and thermoformed
trays
2. Low Density Polyethylene
(LDPE)
Characteristics:

 Odorless and tasteless

 Easily blended with such copolymers
 Highly resistant to most solvent
 Poor barrier for gases
 Softening temperature is around 210ºF
 Easily pigmented
 Good transparency
 Translucent and waxy in thick-walled container
 Advantag
 Flexible es
 Moisture barrier
 Tough
 Chemical resistant
 Light weight
 Low cost
 Heat sealable
Disadvantages
 Not practical for rigid container and flexible
packages
 Problem in flavors and odors
 Stress cracking
 Not recommended for oily products
Applications:
 Use in squeezable tubes and bottles
 Wrappers and bags for different products
 Thermoformed into trays, frozen food
containers
Coating material for bottle cartons,
bacon wrappers and paperboard milk
containers
3. Linear Low Density Polyethylene
(LLDPE) Characteristics:
 Low-cost
 Light weight
 Superior toughness
 Rigid
 Flexible
 Moisture barrier
 Chemical and stress-crack resistant
Advantages:
- Good tensile strength
- Puncture resistance
- Good impact and tear properties
- Stress cracking and warding
resistance

Application:
-For large-sized bagging and
wrapping operations
4. Polypropylene
(PP)
Characteristics:
 Heat and chemical resistance
 Tough & rigid
 Resist oil and greases
 Stress-crack resistance
 Fairly good barrier to moisture and
gases
 High melting point
Advantages
 Light weight
 Low-cost
 Less shrinkage

Disadvantages
 Low impact strength
 Sharp melting point

Applications:
 Widely used in closures of all kinds
 Suitable for some boil-in-bag packages and
containers
 Standard plastic in moulded container
5. Polyvinyl chloride
(PVC)
Characteristics:
 Crystal clear
 Low in impact strength
 Tough and has good puncture
resistance
 Good barrier properties (moisture
and gases)
 Retains odors and flavors
Advantages
 Relatively inexpensive
 Tough
 clear

Disadvantages
• Corrosive when overheated
• Yellows when exposed to heat or UV light
• Scratches easily seen

Applications:
• Blister packaging for pharmaceutical and
capsules
• Garment, box and pallet load wrapping
applications
6.
Nylon
Characteristics:
• Structurally strong
• Relatively low moisture
absorption
• Good dimensional stability
• Heat sealability
Advantages
• Clear
• Good barrier properties to gases
• Excellent stability at both high and low temp.

Disadvantages
• Can be oxidized causing nylon to lose strength

Applications:
• Co-extruded with poly-olefins to enhance packaging
properties
• Coating on paperboards, papers and foils
• Extrusion-blow-molded containers for hard to-hold
chemicals
7. Polyester (Polyethylene
Tetraphthalate)
Characteristics:
• Excels in strength, toughness and clarity
• Resistant to weak acids, bases and most
solvents
• Not good barrier for gases
Advatages
• Fairly stiff material
• Excellent transparency
• Excellent heat, low
• temperature and water resistance
• Excellent oil, chemical and solvent
resistance
• Excellent barrier to aroma and Flavor

Disadvatages
• Poor seal property
• High cost
8. Polystyrene (PS)

Characteristics:
• Crystal clear and very hard, brittle
and rigid
• Low melting point (190ºF)
• Poor impact strength
• Not good barrier for moisture or
gases
• Odorless and tasteless
Advantages
• Clear and light weight
• Low in cost
• Easily molded, thermoformed and extruded into
film
• Accept printing, metallizing and hot-stamping

Disadvantages
• Slight tendency to shrink
• Discolor in strong sunlight
• Can craze and become cloudy
• Builds up static changes Easily

• Applications:
• Bottles for pharmaceutical tablets and capsules
• In molded forms for close containment of fragile
9.
Polycarbonat
e haracteristics:
C
•Good clarity, impact strength, ductility
and low controllable mold shrinkage
• Sterilizable and tolerates gamma
radiation
• High-priced material
Advantages
• Great clarity, toughness and high softening
temp.
• Dimensionally stable and processable
• Odorless and non-staining

Disadvantages
• High- cost
• High permeation of moisture and gases
• Sensitive to oxygen and carbon dioxide
Plastic
Processing
1. :
Injection Molding
- Grains of polymer are mixed and heated by a screw in
a molding machine and injected under a high pressure
into a cool mold.
2. Compression Molding
- powdered resin is put into a heated
mold
- mold closes under high pressure
- Plastic cures in a minute, then molds
open.
3. Rotational Molding
- also called rotomolding or rotational casting
-Produces seamless, hollow parts of uniform
thickness and without the internal stresses that can
be created during conventional molding or thermo
forming
Rotational Moulding Process
4. Blow Molding
- similar to glass making and
used either a single or two
stage process for producing
bottles
a. Extrusion Blow Molding
- continuously extruded
tube of softened polymer
trapped between two
halves of mold and
inflated by
compressed air to the
shape of the mold.
b. Stretch Blow Molding
- a preform is injection or extrusion
-reheated to produce biaxial orientaton of the
molecules and finally stretch blown
c. Injection Blow Molding
-polymer is injection molded around a blowing
stick , then transferred to blowing mold.
- compressed air is used to form final shape of
container
5.Thermoforming
- film is softened over a mould, and a
vacuum and/ or pressure is applied
Typical Technologies of Converting
To give new processing to yield new value on the rolls
that are wound thin substrates which are plastics film
sheet, paper, foil and cloth.
1. Coating
- Thin membrane that is coated liquid on the film sheet
-Process of applying one or more layers of polymer
latices or polymer melt to the surface of a substrate
2. Laminating
-made multiple layers by adhesives and extrusion
molten resin 3. Printing
-to express conveyance of eye information and
ornament 4. Metallizing
- metals are vaporized and adhere to substrate
5. Embossing
- of set of concave-convex design to substrate by
embossing roll
-to make soft-feeling and mat
surface 6. Slitting
-film sheet is continuously slit constant position width
of the product for secondary processing
7. Winding
- is of set purpose to adjust edge of roll product
and get rid rejective part.
 Constituents in
• Plasticizers
Plastic
• Fillers, Extenders, Lubricants
• Stabilizers
• UV absorber
• Slip additives/ anti-slip additives
• Anti-blocking agents
• Colourants-pigments & dyes
• Antioxidants
• Internal release agent
• Inhibitors (mould or bacteria inhibitor)
• Toughening agents- impact modifiers
• Flame-retarding agent eg- opacifiers,
whitening agnet
 Plasticize
•Plasticizers improversthe flow properties of
material, increases softness & flexibility, & are
found mainly in polyvinyl chloride (plasticised
PVC) and the cellulosics.
•The most common PVC plasticizers are phthalate
esteres, phosphate esters, sebacate & adipate
esters, polymeric plasticizers.

Fillers
• Filler is an inert solid substance
•Eg- carbon black, chalk or calcium carbonate,
china clay, silica & magnesium carbonate
•The maximum limit of filler is upto 1:1 ratio , after
which the binding power with the plastic is lost.
 Toughening agent/ impact
modifiers
•A few plastics which tend to be naturally brittle
require an improvement in both Their drop (impact)
strength & their top loading (compression) strength.
•In the case of polystyrene ,rubber is widely used as an
impact modifier.
•Rigid PVC, when used as container may suffer
weakness when subjected to 3-4 feet drop test &
hence 15% of methyl
methacrylate butadiene styrene (MBS) copolymer is
added to improve impact strength.
 Lubrican
ts either as an additive or
•lubricants may be added
at the fabrication stage as a processing aid.
• In general lubricants prevent adhesion with
metal part.
•Lubricants may also improve the flow & thereby
lower the temperature of the moulding
operation.
•Eg in silicone polydimethyl siloxane may be
used in LDPE & HDPE films to improve
flow.
• Lubricants may be solid, such as waxes,
stearates or
 Stabilize
• Stabilizers increase thersstability of plastic either during
processing or during the moulded life of the material
• Stabilizers are frequently used to combat the combined
effects of heat & light.
UV Absorber
• UV absorber may be used for two reason:
1. To protect the plastic from UV degradation
2. To prevent the product degradation due to UV rays
passing through the plastic.
• Chemically UV absorber may be based on substituted
phenols or bezophenones.
• Eg- 2-hydroxy-4-n-octoxybenzophenone, & other
benzophenones .
• Iron oxide & carbon are also used.
 Slip
additives
•Slip additives are widely used for films either made or
used on relatively High speed equipment where any
non-slip or drag properties might be detrimental to
out put.
•The most used slip additives are oleamide &
stearamide, since they operate at the film surface
they can be physically removed by abrassion.

Anti-slip additives
•These were primarily developed to provide good
bonding for palletsied loads of plastic sacks & bag
•Without the additives plastic sacks would tend to
destack & slide off when the pallet is moved or
jerked.
 Anti-blocking
agentstacked materials may be
•Both reel wound & sheet
difficult to separate due to blocking
•This may be caused by the smoothness of two surfaces
giving rise to surface adhesion.
•It can be prevented by incorporation of finely divided
silica or diatomacous earths eg. Mica
Antioxidants
• Used to prevent oxidative degradation of certain
plastics
•Polymers may be subject to various forms of oxidative
attack during all stages of their life cycle.
• Eg. BHT,BHA
Colourants
D
 Extende
rs to fillers
• These are somewhat similar
• They are used as lower cost substitute for plastic

Internal release agent

•These agents are somewhat similar to lubricants in
that they provide release, particularly from metals eg
mould
• zinc , calcium & magnesium stearate.

Inhibitors
• Used to prevent microbial growth
Plastics used for pharma
•packaging
Plastic Containers
• Plastic Collapsible
Tubes
• Plastic Closures
• Blister Material
• Plastic Pouch
Plastic
Containers
Advantages
• Easily Formed
• Freedom Of Design
• Extreme Resistant To
Breakage
• Light Weight
Plastic Collapsible
Tubes
Advantages:
• Low In Cost,
• Light In Weight,
• Durable, Flexible
• Pleasant To Touch,
• Unbreakable, Leak Proof,
• Odorless & Inert To Most Chemicals
• Able To Retain Their Shape Throughout
Their Use
• Unique Suck Back Feature

Disadvantages
• Permeation Of Gases
 Plastic
•The closure is anClosures
integral part of the pack,
hence the word ‘pack’ covers the both the
container & the closure system.
•The pack is only as effective as the closure
employed, a successful marriage between
container & closure is
essential to the product shelf life & its
acceptance during use.
• These are plastic devices which are used
to prevent the
contents from escaping and allow no substance
to enter the container.
Types of closures
1.Screw-on closures

2.Crimp-on
closures
3.Roll-on
closures

4.Friction
closures

5.Press on
closures
 Blister
Pack
Advantages
• Excellent environmental
protection
• Pleasing & efficacious
appearance
• User convenience
• Child resistance
• Tamper resistance

Blister Material
• Polyethylene
• Polystyrene / Polypropylene
• PVC
• Polyvinylidene Chloride
 Plastic
Pouch
Advantages
• Ease of handling
• Used for unit
dosage

Materials used:
• Polyethylene
• Ethylene Vinyl
Acetate
• Polyester
 Plastic
Class-A defects
Defects
• Cracks and breaks anywhere in the container
• Any spot at heel or shoulder
• Rough cut off at finish, leading to leaky closure
• Weld lines that permit stress cracking in contact with
product.
Class-B
• Below minimum weight
• Any dimension outside of limit
• Uneven colour
• Rough or orange peel surface
Class-C
• Blotchy or incomplete printing
• Streaky pigmentation e
s
• Plastic trim in boxes delivered with closur
Evaluation of
Plastic
• Physica
l
• Chemic
al
• Biologic
al
THANK
S