Braskem is making a differentiated polypropylene resin available for the food and domestic utility market that has excellent organoleptic properties. In other words, it guarantees keeping the original flavor of foods even in hot fill applications.  The resin is called RP 145 and it was especially developed to serve the food and domestic utility segments, in rapid cycling production injection processes. According to Luiz de Mendonça, vice-president responsible for the Polyolefins Unit, the launching of RP 145 is the result of a strategy adopted by the company to offer customers new technological alternatives and differentiated solutions according to their needs.

This novel product on the Brazilian market is the only one with high transparency and productivity, together with a very low residual volatile content, which eliminates the transmission of odors to the packaged foods. The potential market for this resin is estimated at approximately 40 thousand tons/year. The new resin will initially have a projected consumption of approximately 5 thousand tons per year, which could double over a 3-year period. 

RP 145 is innovative and also has the potential of being used in other thin wall applications, such as domestic utilities, where transparency is a fundamental requirement, providing excellent productivity for the transformer. According to Rui Chammas, commercial director responsible for polypropylene business, the launching of the resin responds to a growing demand from the food market that wants to increasingly package foods in transparent packages thus allowing the consumer to see what he/she is taking home. This new resin joins Braskem’s other new product offers, such as CP 284R for the bucket market, and CP 145 for margarine packaging, the last two being copolymers that are highly resistant to impact. "RP 145 complements Braskem’s resin portfolio with a high degree of fluidity, ideal for rapid cycling injectors," adds Rui Chammas. 

It took approximately two years of dedication by the researchers based at the Braskem Technology and Innovation Center to develop the resin. According to Luis Cassinelli, director of Technology and Innovation, the resin represents a milestone in resin production technology for rapid cycling injection in Brazil.