Eastar™ EB062 copolyester resins enable brand owners to offer enhanced consumer convenience with multi-serve packaging

Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) and Northumbria Blow Mouldings, Ltd. announce the availability of four and five liter clear, handled bottles for convenient multi-serve packaging, the largest of their kind available in Europe. Awarded the 2009 Horner's Bottlemaking Award from the Polymer Machinery Manufacturers and Distributors Association, the bottles are extrusion blow molded by Northumbria using Eastar™ EB062 copolyester resins from Eastman. The new offering allows European food and beverage brands to differentiate their packaging with intricate designs and a fully formed handle for maximum shelf-appeal and consumer convenience. Eastar™ copolyester is a unique resin that retains its clarity combined with good barrier and mechanical properties when used to shape integral handles. Until now, brand owners and package designers have been unable to create handled bottles with glass-like clarity of this size due to the manufacturing limitations of polyethylene, PVC and PET, said Brian Wiper, Managing Director at Northumbria Blow Mouldings, Ltd. We have invested significant resources and worked closely with the material experts at Eastman to create this revolutionary product, and we are thrilled to bring it to the European market. Eastar™ EB062 is a modified PET product that is chemically and aesthetically similar to PET resins used in Injection Stretch Blow Molding (ISBM) applications. Technical and marketplace studies have shown that small quantities of Eastar™ EB062 are compatible with the PET post-consumer recycle stream under specific market conditions. The excellent thermal stability of Eastar™ copolyesters permits the complete reuse of all clean, dry regrind. Eastar™ EB062 exhibits a very good chemical resistance towards various filling goods. To achieve chemical resistance against specific products, Eastar™ does not need to undergo a fluorination process prior to being filled like polyethylene, which reduces its carbon footprint and eliminates the need to use aggressive chemicals in manufacture. Through our relationship, Northumbria has been able to answer the market need for large, handled containers that offer convenience, clarity and environmental benefits, said Thomas Steinbrecher, Key Account Manager EMEA at Eastman Chemical Company. Being the first to market with these new containers epitomizes Eastman's fundamental commitment to bringing insightful products to brand owners throughout the world.