Dow introduces its first recycled plastic resin for shrink film applications in North America

Dow has introduced a resin for producing collation shrink film that is made with as much as 40 percent postconsumer recycled (PCR) content in North and Latin America. The Midland, Michigan-based company says the new product enables companies in North America to incorporate postconsumer materials while maintaining application performance.

Earlier this year, Dow announced that it had developed and commercialized a new PCR resin designed for collation shrink film applications in the Asia Pacific region that is made with recycled plastics collected domestically within China through Dow's strategic recycling partners and is made at Dow's external manufacturing site in Nanjing, China.

In a news release announcing the product launch in the Americas, Victor Zapata, Dow recycling commercial director for North America and Latin America, says, “We developed our PCR-rich resin to meet market demand for companies seeking to use more recycled plastics in their products, and we collaborated across the value chain to bring it to life. This gives our customers one more tool to explore sustainable packaging alternatives, especially within Dow’s Pack Studios collaboration centers.”

Dow says its XUS60030.01 experimental low-density polyethylene resin includes 70 percent certified film-based PCR. By using a high percentage of recycled plastics, the company says it can help companies reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and energy footprints.  

Dow says the new recycled-content resin offers a number of benefits:

• final package performance comparable to that of packages made totally with virgin resins;
• maintains recyclability as an all-PE film;
• flexibility to customize PCR content for shrink applications;
• reduced carbon footprint of shrink applications;
• reliable with adequate supply to meet market demand; and
• a homogeneous and consistent solution for incorporating PCR-based film.

In January, Dow announced a partnership with Avangard Innovative to supply PCR pellets to Dow. Dow says it has been evaluating new linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) products using this PCR.

“In June 2020, Dow announced new sustainability targets focused on eliminating plastic waste by increasing global recycling and designing products for recyclability,” Zapata says. “The launch of our PCR-rich resin is aligned with Dow’s strategy of designing products for circularity and implementing recycling solutions to provide new life for used plastics.”

Dow is developing additional PCR innovations for various applications in industrial and consumer packaging markets in the coming year. The company also is offering a webinar that will provide additional information about this new PCR resin for shrink film Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. CST.