Similarly, new innovative colourants that increase transparency have been developed to expand the scope of design in plastic packaging.
These and other developments will be on display at K 2004 in Düsseldorf, Germany, which runs from October 20 to October 27.
"Ciba Specialty Chemicals is a well-established leader in the plastic additives industry," said Brendan Cummins, head of Ciba's plastic additives segment.
"At K 2004 we are showing that we do not just lead in doing business in more traditional product areas. Today industry is driven by end-user demand for increasingly sophisticated effects in the products they buy."
One such innovation is Ciba's Shelfplus UV 4100, a UV filter designed especially for plastic packaging. The new UV-filter was developed to help meet the increasing demand for transparent packaging.
The filter blocks broad-spectrum UV radiation, which is found in both sunlight and in fluorescent lighting used in stores. This protects the stability and appearance of the package content and thereby increases the shelf life of products in transparent packaging.
Ciba is also launching Irgamod RA 20, a novel chain extender for PET. The novel chain extender provides PET material with better mechanical properties, which upgrades its perception of quality with the end-user.
It also makes PET easier to process for producers. Chiba believes that these benefits will encourage broader use of PET in the future. In addition, Irgamod RA 20 can be combined with effect additives such as Shelfplus UV for better functionality and performance of PET packaging.
Ciba has also developed Cromophtal Red PD3092, a highly transparent, non-warping yellowish red pigment that the company claims exhibits outstanding colour strength and heat stability in polyolefins and PVC.
In conjunction with the opaque pigment Ciba Cromophtal Red 2030the new pigment facilitates the transparency / opacity dimension of colour formulations in packaging applications to be exactly tailored to meet the manufacturer's needs.
Ciba says that the new pigment will be commercialised in the second half of 2005.
Ciba Cromophtal Blue PD 4167 on the other hand is a high value blue pigment that combines low-warping with extreme colour strength. The company says that the product uses a technology platform that addresses the long-standingproblem of warping caused by colouration when pigments are used in moulded plastics.
The potential for warping has long hampered the broader use of pigment coloured plastic for items where durable strength and stability are required, such as crates for carrying bottles and bottle tops. Plastic moulders, says Ciba, will benefit from the resulting higher productivity and outstanding performance of this versatile, organic blue pigment.
Finally, Ciba's Tinuvin XT 833,a new UV light stabiliser system designed to extend the lifetime of flexible PVC for as much as 20 years. This doubles the current lifetime of flexible PVC that is at around 10 years.
Ciba Specialty Chemicals is active in more than 120 countries around the world. In 2003, the company generated sales of 6.6 billion Swiss francs and invested 281 million in R&D.