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The top three functional additives in plastic packaging

New report identifies oxygen scavengers, UV stabilizers, and antistatic additives as the top three functional additives being used to provide greater product protection for consumers.

Pw 72063 Additives Pira

There is rapidly increasing demand for packaging materials that give even greater protection to their contents. Functional additives are an important technology in meeting this demand for greater product protection in the plastic packaging market. A functional additive modifies the properties of packaging to impart desirable or beneficial functions.

According to a new report, “The Future of Functional Additives and Barrier Coatings for Plastic Packaging to 2018,” from Smithers Pira, many types of functional additives are used for plastic packaging, including antistatic agents, heat and UV stabilizers, impact modifiers, clarifying agents, blowing agents, brightness agents, impact modifiers, antioxidants, antimicrobial agents, oxygen scavengers, anti-block agents, and various other processing aids.

Oxygen scavengers

According to the Smithers Pira report, oxygen scavengers are the largest of the functional additives used in plastic packaging, making up a 57% value share of the plastic packaging market. Oxygen scavengers help to extend product life and improve product appearance by absorbing and removing any oxygen left in the closed packaged product. In recent years, innovations have enabled oxygen scavengers to be impregnated into laminates, cards, films, bottles, plastic lids, and closures.

The technology has been widely used in PET beer bottles, often incorporated into closures or barrier materials. The growth in ready meals consumption has presented further opportunities for oxygen scavengers, with Japan dominating the ready meals market for oxygen scavengers. Oxygen scavengers are also growing in pharmaceutical packaging, propelled by industry demands because of regulatory pressures, cost-cutting exercises, and the need to enhance patient care.

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