Introduction

Agricultural plastic films contribute significantly to securing sufficient food for our growing population by increasing crop yields and food quality for the farming industry in a sustainable manner. Greenhouse, mulch and silage films are the key segments, where state-of-the-art UniteChem stabilizers ensure a longer film durability to light, heat and pesticides, supporting more sustainable agriculture. Greenhouse films today can reach 4 years of life with high resistance to pesticides, mulch films have become continuously thinner to be more cost-efficient while still maintaining sufficient durability, and silage films ensure constant quality by gas-barrier properties to the stored crops. All these features are attained by employing the right stabilization solutions offered by UniteChem stabilizers.

Recommendation

UniteChem LS 944 is the largest volume light stabilizer used in standard applications for greenhouse films where limited amounts of agrochemicals are in use, whereas UniteChem LS 119 is the most common solution for more demanding applications, often used with UniteChem UV 326 and other UV absorbers for longer durability. An optimum cost/performance solution for standard mulch films can be achieved with LS 622, particularly for black films. For more demanding applications, stabilization systems with LS 622 and LS 119 are recommended. In silage films UniteChem LS 783 is currently the most utilized and efficient stabilization system, sometimes combined with UniteChem UV 531 for medium lifetime or UniteChem UV 236 for longer lifetimes. Blends of LS 119 with benzoates and UniteChem UV 360 are recommended for the most demanding greenhouse film applications with high pesticide exposure. UniteChem AO 1076 is recommended for improving heat resistance in polyethylene films, and the blend AO B215 helps the processing of PE/EVA multilayers to reach a highly transparent gel-free quality.