Discover your next big idea at PACK EXPO Las Vegas
Experience a breakthrough in packaging & processing and transform your business with solutions from 2,300 suppliers spanning all industries. Click to learn more.

What happened to PEN?

As we look back over the first two years of Packaging World’s first two decades, few stories are more intriguing than our July ‘95 cover story about PEN (polyethylene naphthalate).

Pw 72137 20years 1014 Db

Touting oxygen and moisture properties four to five times better than PET, a glass transition temperature 43 deg C higher than that of PET (thus making it hot-fillable without sidewall deformation), and molding and blowing cycles shorter than those required for PET, PEN homopolymers and naphtha late-based copolyesters were all the rage at technical conferences throughout that year. But questions about cost, recyclability, machineability, and food contact clearance never really got answered sufficiently, and the end result is that today we hear very little about this once bright start in the galaxy of packaging resins.

Break out of the ordinary: see what’s new in packaging & processing!
At PACK EXPO Las Vegas, you’ll see machinery in action and new tech from 2,300 suppliers, collaborate with experts and explore transformative solutions. Join us this month to experience a breakthrough in packaging and processing.
REGISTER NOW
Break out of the ordinary: see what’s new in packaging & processing!
Conveying Innovations Report
Editors report on distinguishing characteristics that define each new product and collected video demonstrating the equipment or materials as displayed at the show. This topical report, winnowed from nearly 300 PACK EXPO collective booth visits, represents a categorized, organized account of individual items that were selected based on whether they were deemed to be both new, and truly innovative, based on decades of combined editorial experience in experiencing and evaluating PACK EXPO products.
Take me there
Conveying Innovations Report