• K-Resin^® KR21: Combines high impact resistance, good ESCR (Environmental Stress Crack Resistance) and chemical resistant properties to make it an ideal material for refrigerator inliners
• K-Resin^®: Widely used in transparent parts of household appliances for its blend of sparkling clarity, well balanced toughness, and rigidity

INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, has today announced that its K-Resin^® KR21 has been successfully commercialised by major household appliance manufacturers in Asia for refrigerator inliners.

K-Resin KR21 is a new grade that was recently added to the K-Resin SBC product line. It was designed to offer toughness and low-density at low temperatures. K-Resin KR21 is an excellent polymer modifier extending the performance and processability for both extrusion and injection moulding applications. It is an ideal polymer modifier for refrigerator liner applications due to its ability to improve the ESCR performance in HIPS (“high impact polystyrene”). Its low-density property also facilitates a higher production yield, hence making it a more cost-effective solution over other competing polymers.

K-Resin KR21 is compliant with the USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Union (EU) and Chinese National GB regulations for food contact. Technical and Material safety data sheets are available[1].

“This successful commercialisation of K-Resin KR21 for refrigerator inliners, as well as K-Resin KR01 used for refrigerator LED lamp housing[2], shows our ongoing partnership with major household appliance manufacturers to expand our K-Resin footprint in new transparent applications,” says Marcela Villegas, Asia Pacific Vice President, Business Management. “We foresee a high potential of new applications for the development pipeline with the excellent balance of properties and versatility offered by K-Resin KR21 across a wide range of applications in other industries, including healthcare.” 

K-Resin is INEOS Styrolution’s crystal-clear thermoplastic styrene-butadiene copolymer (SBC) and is known for its unique blend of sparkling clarity, impact toughness, stiffness, and exceptional gloss. Our K-Resin range is an excellent material choice for applications requiring food contact regulation compliance. It has been used in a wide variety of applications ranging from household appliances, packaging, toys, medical components and displays for over 40 years.

INEOS Styrolution’s range of crystal-clear thermoplastic SBC, namely K-Resin^®, Styrolux^® and Styroflex^®, offers an impressive combination of high transparency, brilliance and impact resistance making them suitable for use in applications across various industries including healthcare, packaging, and toys.

[1] Full details of our food contact statements are available upon request for our customers for whom this is relevant. These statements also identify certain tests that need to be carried out by the customer on the finished moulded article.

[2] See Press Release “INEOS Styrolution equips Samsung’s refrigerator LED lamp housing with K-Resin® SBC”