wisconsinbased sheet extruder pacur llc, alongside partners eastman chemical co. and specialty thermoformer tek pak inc., introduced opaque, extruded, multilayer glycolmodified pet foam to the medical packaging. the solution is a coextruded in a threelayer product, with eastman eastar copolyester 6763 on the outside and eastman&rsquos eastalite copolyester as its core &mdash essentially recombining materials the medical industry is already using and already iso certified. the clear exterior layers allow the same heat seal and product contact surfaces and properties already established in the medical market while the foamed eastalite copolyester core provides a lightweight, opaque cushion. pacur&rsquos petg is also cleared for sterilization via ethylene oxide or gamma irradiation. because of this unique structure, the opaque material is shockabsorbent for impact resistance during shipping. when thermoformed into packages, the multilayer sheeting offers a physical barrier to microbes and product protection over the desired shelf life for medical devices. the product, launched as an alternative to styrenebased opaque medical packaging. polystyrene is commonly used in medical device packaging because it can provide a reasonable amount of protection for delicate devices and withstand ethylene oxide sterilization. but an upanddown market can cause supply chain problems for processors in addition to the usual extruding and forming issues. and hips is prone to cracking, which means a breached sterile barrier and possibly even a damaged device.  this new material is flexible as compared to styrenes, can be more easily removed from the mold, which means it can speed up the machinery. it also has less weight than other full thickness materials, so there is requirement to put less heat into it which allows to use less energy. it require less cooling time which make it run faster.
