Polyethylene-vinyl alcohol plastic EVOH

A different approach was used by the Ferruzy Company, the main difference being the use of high boiling-point plasticizer instead of water for the destructuration of starch. In this technology, starch was plasticized together with polymers such as polyethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH), EAA, poly-e-caprolactone, with small amounts of moisture, in a twin-screw extruder [49], to produce an intimate mixture between starch and the synthetic polymer. The commercial trade name of this product family is Mater-Bi . 

Perhaps the most exciting developments are yet to feature in fruit juice packaging. PET can be laminated with other plastics, such as nylon and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), to give extremely good barrier properties, and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) may enable production of a plastic bottle that can be pasteurised at high temperatures. 

High barrier plastic containers are currently made from multiple layers of a relatively thick economical polymer such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene, combined with a thin layer of a barrier polymer such as ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH). In a similar way, multilayer barrier containers can be made with a thin layer of liquid crystal polymer (LCP), as an excellent barrier to oxygen, water vapor, and other gases. 

The most widely used plastics in flexible packaging are low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), polypropylene (PP), and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). HDPE is widely used for rigid containers also, fulfiUing almost 50 percent of the total demand. However, the fastest-growing resin for rigid containers continues to be polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and its copolymers. Other resins, such as ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), vinyfidene chloride (VDC) copolymers, and nylons, have specialized appfications as high barrier materials. 

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