New polypropylene introduced for European facemask production

Plastics company LyondellBasell, has introduced of the new Moplen HP560Z, a Melt Flow Rate (MFR) 1500 grade for melt-blown non-woven applications. The company says it’s the first to offer this type of high-fluidity polypropylene grade in Europe.

The continued availability of medical and safety equipment, especially face masks, is still primordial to safeguard and protect communities. While the majority of MFR 1500 grades for melt-blown non-woven applications have so far mainly been produced in Asian countries, European demand has seen an increase with the growing number of regional production entities for protective equipment. A swift regional solution for a high-end medical grade was therefore needed.

In order to support this sustained high need for face masks and their local production in Europe,

LyondellBasell has commercialised a new polypropylene MFR 1500 grade, Moplen HP560Z. The fluidity of this grade allows the creation of face masks with the best filtration level providing the highest protection efficiency possible. 

An additional advantage of the Moplen HP560Z grade is that it has been tailored specifically for the newest small-scale melt-blown non-woven machines, which are now widely used for face mask production in Europe.

Jochem Meijknecht, marketing manager at LyondellBasell, said: “LyondellBasell is known for finding solutions to challenges it faces, and the rapid development of Moplen HP560Z is evidence of our ability to meet our customer’s needs in the European market. It is exciting to be the first company to offer a MFR 1500 grade made in Europe.”