SK Chemicals (Seoul / South Korea; www.skchemicals.com) has launched copolyesters containing 30% post-consumer recycled material for use in cosmetic packaging. The “Ecotria” range of copolyesters is now available in Europe and can replace PETG and PCTG copolyesters in most processes, retaining properties such as ease of processing, excellent chemical resistance and clarity, said the company.

Ecotria is a transparent food-contact copolyester that is certified as compatible with the RIC 1 PET recycling stream, as defined by the European Commission. The product is currently available in two grades – “Ecotria R100” for injection stretch blow moulding and “Ecozen R200” for injection moulding or injection stretch blow moulding. According to SK, European customers have tested the material and several end-users are now planning to launch a range of products using Ecotria. The company added that it has formulated the two grades to crystallise sufficiently quickly to be compatible with the PET recycling process, but also slowly enough to be used in most injection and blow moulding processes that traditionally use PETG or PCTG.