SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Milliken & Company, the diversified global manufacturer headquartered in Spartanburg, announced this week that it will bring several new polymer additive technologies to Interpack 2026, the packaging industry’s largest trade show, which runs May 7 through 13 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The company plans to showcase four food-contact compliant innovations at booth C18 in Hall 10. The featured products address a consistent demand across the packaging sector: doing more with less material while keeping products clear, lightweight, and recyclable. Milliken’s plastic additives business has been a major part of the company’s chemicals division for more than six decades.
Wim Van De Velde, executive vice president and managing director of Milliken’s plastic additives business, said in the company’s announcement that the future of packaging depends on how well materials and processes work together, and framed the Interpack showcase as a way to highlight technologies built to improve customer performance while supporting lighter-weight and more recyclable package designs.
Among the highlighted products is Millad ClearX 9000, a next-generation clarifier for polypropylene designed to deliver ultra-clear transparency with reduced additive loading. The company says it helps resin producers and converters reduce downtime and waste while speeding up changeovers. A second featured product, LeneX UGN-52, is a barrier improvement technology for high-density polyethylene and linear low-density polyethylene films and containers, engineered to support lighter packaging that remains recyclable as a mono-material. Milliken’s Hyperform HPN nucleating agent line is also being shown; the agents accelerate crystallization in polypropylene, yielding faster cycle times and better clarity. ClearShield, a UV absorber for PET packaging, rounds out the exhibit by protecting contents from ultraviolet light without sacrificing visual clarity.
Milliken experts will participate in Spotlight Forum sessions at the show on May 11 and 12, offering case studies on how the company has helped packaging brands meet specific performance and sustainability goals. The official Interpack 2026 exhibitor directory lists Milliken Europe bv — the European arm of the Spartanburg company — in Hall 10, C18.
The Interpack showcase extends Milliken’s longstanding presence as a global supplier in specialty chemicals and packaging materials. The company, which has operated in Spartanburg for well over a century, employs thousands of workers in the Upstate and maintains operations across textiles, flooring, specialty chemicals, and healthcare products. For Spartanburg’s manufacturing and business community, Milliken’s participation in one of the world’s top packaging trade shows is a marker of the company’s continued investment in global chemical innovation from its Upstate South Carolina base.
