Ampacet rolls out new PET finishes
The rollout includes a frosted glass effect, a blue tinted effect and the addition of seven new metal color effects, all for PET bottles and designed to meet manufacturers' aims to differentiate their products in the ever-competitive cosmetics sector. Ampacet Masterbatch is said to give a blue halo around the periphery of clear PET bottles, an effect that also aims to give a soft glow in ultraviolet lighting, highlighting specific ranges of beauty products. "Blue edge takes clear bottles to another level," said Doug Brownfield, the company's strategic business manager. "Its subtle blue tint conveys the quality of high-end glass and acceuntuates the lines of your packaging, a quality that fits well with the current trend of using architectural elements in packaging design. In addition, since its impact is not based on a pigment, it does not hinder light transmission and product visibility remains unchanged." The company has also further expanded its finishes for PET bottles with its frosted glass look, achieved through a series of low luster grades applied during the casting of the bottles. The effect gives the bottles a better matte finish that creates a strong similarity to etched glass, a finish that should help to lend an up-market appearance, the company claims. The frosted masterbatches are added during the extrusion process, eliminating the need to add a coating on, in turn cutting down both production time and costs. "This offers a way to gain this look in PET and other resins, such as acrylic, polycarbonate, and nylon, without the need for spray painting and other secondary steps after processing," said Brownfield. "They also offer a variety of appearance options. For instance, the frosted effect can be varied from translucent to opaque, and it can be tinted to yield the soft blue and green tones of vintage glass." The company is also increasing its packaging finishes with the launch of seven new colors in its LiquidMetal, a line that gives PET bottles the look of highly reflective metal. The new finishes are gold, ruby, silver, midnight blue, brown and chrome, bringing the total number of finishes to 13, and have been designed to meet demands for plastic packaging with the look of polished metals. Ampacet's new lines are the latest in a spurt of recent launches targeting special effects for plastic packaging aimed at giving beauty products extra visual appeal. Other popular attention grabbing effects include interference and color shifting, luminescence and phosphorescence, fluorescence, light sensitive photochromic and color changing thermochromic finishes. Similar recent launches have included a range of shiny packaging products from Impressions Packaging - aimed at giving plastic packaging a metalicized look, launching a range of plastic packaging with a two-tone effect that sparkles with gold and Teknor adding a new shimmering effect for plastics packaging.
