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Film, Sheets & Fibers

Calcium carbonate is currently in use in a wide variety of applications from thin films to thicker sheets, enhancing mechanical properties and improving manufacturing productivity. Calcium carbonate can boost the output of processing lines while achieving better impact strength and higher stiffness.

Film is by far the broadest market in plastics applications, ranging from breathable to extrusion coating films as well as thermoformed sheets.

Tape in the raffia market also benefits from the sophisticated, fine treated calcium carbonate providing outstanding mechanical properties and superior quality sustainability at ever increasing mineral loadings. Recyclers use calcium carbonate to take advantage of all its benefits during recycling manufacturing and to achieve better mechanical properties in their recycled plastic.

Omyafilm®, a dedicated product for the film industry with reduced top cut, low impurities and excellent coating properties, is becoming recognized as a reference product in the world film market.

Breathable Film

The use of calcium carbonate in the manufacture of microporous breathable films has allowed major advances in these films, especially as regards to hygiene. The calcium carbonate is an active ingredient in this case, providing the film with special characteristics that allow it to breathe through a network of micropores.

Omya has developed specific grades specially dedicated for this purpose. The Omyafilm® range allows all breathable film types to be produced, from the most simple to the most demanding.

Omyafilm® designed for this purpose will offer:

• Exceptional hydrophobicity,
• Excellent dispersion and
• Improved thermal stability in processing

Using Omyafilm® in breathable films grants:

• High WVTR,
• Great water pressure,
• Good mechanical properties and
• Outstanding UV resistance

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Extrusion Coating

Calcium carbonate provides a great opportunity to reduce raw material costs and improve coating quality. Calcium carbonate can be used in LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE and PP extrusion coating. Use of the Omyafilm® product range is recommended for very high line speeds and thin coating layers.

Main benefits of using Omyafilm® in extrusion coating include:

• Improved adhesion,
• Faster line speed,
• Reduction in minimum seal temperature,
• Less web blocking,
• Lower processing temperatures,
• Lower melt temperatures and
• Less neck in

Extrusion coating demands calcium carbonate concentrates with special let-down polymers.
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Film

Calcium carbonate has become important for many products made out of polyethylene films, such as bags and sacks and agricultural films. Omyafilm® calcium carbonate specially developed to be incorporated into polyethylene blown film improves both productivity and physical properties.

The main benefits in production include:

• Increased specific output,
• Faster heating and cooling,
• Increased line speed,
• Better homogeneity and
• Enhanced machine uptime

The main benefits to the end-product include:

• Reduced raw material costs,
• Potentiality for down-gauging,
• Higher stiffness,
• Improved dart drop,
• Improved tear resistance and
• Improved barrier properties

In most cases Omyafilm® can be used for producing end-products of equal weight with the same or better physical properties.
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Raffia

Calcium carbonate is conventionally used in PE or PP woven bags, weaving tapes or bands to offer anti-splitting and anti-fibrillation effects.

Polyolefin masterbatches based on appropriate calcium carbonate offer:

• Reduced splitting propensity of oriented polypropylene,
• Increased stiffness,
• Reduced delustering,
• Reduced amount of titanium dioxide and
• Reduced raw material consumption

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Recycling

Calcium carbonate has become important for many products, because it improves the quality of the recyclate, reduces end-user formulation costs and enhances the quality of the finished product.

The main benefits for recycling companies are:

• Increased specific output,
• Increased machine uptime,
• Better homogeneity and
• Improved product quality

By using Omyafilm®, a new brand of calcium carbonate dedicated to the film industry, extrusion equipment remains cleaner for longer, particularly when processing printed films.

The main benefits to the end-users of recycled scrap include:

• Higher stiffness,
• Improved dart drop,
• Improved tear resistance,
• Increased specific output,
• Enhanced machine uptime and
• Faster heating and cooling

These benefits can be combined with the many other advantages gained when calcium carbonate are added to plastics.
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Sheets

Filling polypropylene with up to 60% calcium carbonate is a proven solution for running polypropylene on existing polystyrene thermoforming machinery with comparable line performance and end-product quality.

The main benefits of using Omya calcium carbonate in polypropylene include:

• Higher extruder output and faster cooling on chill roll,
• Reduced cooling time in mold, faster cycles,
• Higher stiffness,
• Lower shrinkage,
• Processing on existing PS thermoforming machinery,
• More isotropic physical properties and
• Improved forming accuracy

It is possible to use Omya calcium carbonate in direct extrusion or to use Omya concentrates Omyafilm® and Omyalene® in granular form.
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