INVISTA's New PolyShield™ Barrier Resin Meets All Specifications of European Union Directive for Direct Contact with Beer
Polyshield™ monolayer resin offers a major breakthrough for beer bottles in the European market with significantly improved oxygen and carbon dioxide barriers

July 20, 2004

WICHITA, Kan. July 20, 2004. INVISTA, a leading manufacturer of PET and nylon, polymers and resins, announced today that it received a Letter of Opinion from legal counsel confirming that PolyShield™, its new barrier resin, is suited for use in food packaging applications in direct contact with beer in Germany and, hence the European Union.

INVISTA's legal counsel states in its Letter of Opinion that all monomers and additives used in PolyShield™ are included on the respective "positive lists" in the EU Plastics Directive and that PolyShield™ bottles meet all global and specific migration limits of the European Union directive and are otherwise safe and suitable under the Framework Directive (Directive 89/109/EEC).

PolyShield™ is a PET blend with oxygen scavenging and passive gas barrier properties which allows for monolayer bottles to meet shelf life requirements for beer through significantly improved oxygen and carbon dioxide barriers. In addition, PolyShield™ outstanding oxygen scavenging performance virtually eliminates any empty bottle shelf life issue.

The PolyShield™ monolayer technology allows preforms to be produced on standard injection molding equipment with only minor changes, neither requiring any major additional investment nor adding complexity at the converter. Developmental trials are already under way with several customers. Beer bottles using PolyShield™ are expected to hit the supermarket shelves by fall of this year.

"PolyShield™ is a major breakthrough in providing plastic bottles to the beer market. We believe that PolyShield is the most effective barrier technology in providing the required shelf life for beer without the conversion headaches of multilayer technologies," said Kevin Fogarty, president, Polymer and Resins, INVISTA. "PolyShield™ now meets regulatory requirements for direct food contact in the Europe Union. We are pleased to have accomplished this important step to bring this innovative and unique solution to our customers."

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