Geomembranes

Growing concerns over waste have helped open a new market for cast- and blown-film processors in many countries.

In order to prevent pollution of ground water supplies, for example, many landfill areas now rely on protection by geomembranes. These thick, flexible, high-quality films need to provide puncture protection, withstand pressure, and exhibit high chemical and UV resistance.

Borealis has developed a range of Borstar® LLDPE grades for use in producing geomembrane applications through blown or calendar stack film extrusion. Geomembranes are typically produced from PVC or HDPE, but very-low-density PE and polypropylene are also being processed for this purpose. A typical geomembrane is 1.5-3 mm. thick and extruded in widths of from 4-8 metres.  

Our Borstar LLDPE material grades deliver a range of benefits including:

• easy processing
• high output rates
• mechanical properties
• excellent gauge variation
• smooth surface
• down-gauging potential for thinner liners
• excellent distribution of carbon black
• consistent quality
• flexible liners, no need for blending plus higher quality
• broad sealing window
• no wrinkles or “banana curves” after unwinding,
• high mechanical strength
• low failure rate

The main geomembrane applications are:

• landfill liners
• capping liners
• mining liners
• building & construction liners
• pond/aquaculture liners
• canal liners