Plastic is a versatile material that is used in a variety of applications, from food packaging to automotive cables. To ensure that the plastic has the necessary properties to meet the needs of the design, additives, coatings and other customizations are often added to the plastic itself. The most common additive used in plastic is plasticizers, which are liquid, non-volatile organic substances that improve flexibility and are used in PVC, acrylics, PET and polyolefin. Additionally, polymer additives are critical to the performance of the plastic film for applications such as food packaging and agricultural crop protection.
Antioxidants are also added to prevent thermal oxidation reactions when plastics are processed at high temperatures and light-assisted oxidation when plastics are exposed to ultraviolet light. Amcor is a manufacturer of polyethylene films and bags, as well as polyolefin compounds, additives, blends and masterblends. The use of plastic film has become increasingly important in modern life, particularly in crop production. Plastic film is placed on the ground to trap heat and moisture, allowing for increased crop production around the world. However, disposing of plastic waste can cause problems due to its tendency to be mixed with other types of waste.
Therefore, it is important to use the right type and level of additive when producing plastic films in order to increase performance and reduce waste.
