COPOLYESTER MATERIAL AND DESIGN DUO DELIVER LOWER COST IN DISPOSABLE LAB WARE
08 March 2004 - Eastman Chemical Company

Today’s research market is under continuous pressure to curtail costs. Quality lab ware manufacturer, Nalge Nunc International, found a way to reduce product and overall system costs in their latest line of disposable flasks. The company’s innovative offering provides the high performance of an existing material at a lower unit and manufacturing cost. The new Nalgene sterile disposable flasks combine an innovative lightweight design with the versatility of Eastman Chemical Company’s Eastar copolyester 6763 to deliver a cost effective, completely disposable product. That’s good news for budget-crunched research facilities.

“We can offer Nalgene sterile disposable flasks at roughly 40 percent less than a competitive brand because we’re able to use a cost-effective material and process that enable overall savings,” said Dr. Dennis Gorlick, marketing manager, Nalgene Life Science.

“We selected Eastar copolyester because it lends itself well to many different processes. Plus, many companies manufacturing cell culture media use another Nalgene container made of 6763, so it made sense to use the same material for the flasks, which are used to process shaker and suspension cell culture further downstream,” said Gorlick. “In order to make a cost-effective, truly disposable flask, Eastar was the resin of choice.”

With the new Nalgene sterile disposable flasks, laboratory professionals can realize process efficiencies from initial use to final disposal. These flasks are ready-to-use in gamma sterilized individual packages. And thanks to the sterilized clarity of Eastar, the new flasks are free from the yellowing associated with other polymers when exposed to gamma sterilisation.

“The flask was designed for disposability. It has a low initial cost, making it cheaper and lighter to dispose,” said Gorlick. The Eastman plastic was integral to the design, enabling Nalge Nunc to mold an extremely lightweight, thin-walled product with the performance integrity of its heavier polycarbonate counterpart. The flasks are readily disposable and weigh only a fraction of the weight of other materials including glass or polycarbonate, making disposal more cost-effective. The disposability factor greatly reduces the risk of cross-contamination, and the flasks can be cleanly incinerated.

Eastar copolyester enabled the convenient disposable, presterilized design that’s important from a cost standpoint as well as from a performance perspective. “In developing and applying our products, we consider the overall process in which the material is used,” said Rick Noller, Eastman market development manager. “It’s more than just specifying material – it is knowing how that material can add value to the entire process. The Nalgene sterile disposable flask is a perfect example of how Eastar helped the manufacturer produce a quality product while creating downstream efficiencies for its customers.”

With manufacturing in Rochester, NY, Nalge Nunc International is an
ISO 13485-certified company in the production and supply of laboratory plasticware for use in research and educational laboratories.

http://www.eastman.com

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