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Which plastic for a core: PVC, PP or HDPE?
Which plastic for your core?Three questions on heat, food and priorities, and I’ll tell you which plastic to start from. Then you run the test, on the real roll.
Indicative ROLL Lab choice: 10 °C margin on the material’s continuous service temperature. Always check the compound data sheet.
ROLL Lab estimate, not a test certificate. Prepare your enquiry for the manufacturer →
How the calculation works
The selector applies simple rules in sequence, derived from polymer properties and common practice:
- Maximum service temperature: up to 40 °C all polymers are possible; between 40 and 60 °C PVC needs a wide margin and HDPE is penalised; above 60 °C continuous the selector warns that you are leaving the field of standard plastic cores.
- Declared food contact: rules out unauthorised post-consumer recyclates (Regulation (EU) 2022/1616) and favours virgin PP, then virgin PVC and ABS with a declaration.
- Priority: cost (recycled PVC or filled PP), stiffness (virgin PVC, filled PP), recycled content (post-consumer recycled PVC or HDPE), outdoor and cold (black HDPE, copolymer PP).
The result gives a first choice and an alternative, with the reason. Reference data: HDT at 1.8 MPa of 54–75 °C for rigid PVC, 50–60 °C for PP, 45–60 °C for HDPE (SpecialChem); strength loss at 50 °C of 20–30% for PVC (Fiaptech technical documentation, a company with corporate ties to ROLL).
Limits: it does not consider roll pressure, wall, creep, real prices or specific compounds. It helps you start from the right material, not specify the core. ROLL Lab estimate.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best plastic for cores?
There is no best plastic in absolute terms. PVC is the stiffest and the most reused, PP the lightest and suited to food contact, HDPE the toughest in the cold and in the sun.
Which plastic takes the most heat?
Under light loads, PP, with an HDT at 0.46 MPa of 100–120 °C. Under high loads the differences narrow: at 1.8 MPa PVC, PP and HDPE sit between about 45 and 75 °C.
Does the selector replace a test?
No. It tells you which material to start from. The wall and the confirmation come from a calculation on the roll pressure and a line trial.
Sources
- SpecialChem, Heat Deflection Temperature of Plastics
- Fiaptech technical documentation, Smart Book “Which core?” (a company with corporate ties to ROLL)
- Regulation (EU) 2022/1616
- ROLL Lab analysis
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