Reynolds Products

From: Reynolds Kitchens <ReynoldsKitchens@rmc.com>
Plastic Wrap Aluminum Foil
Nina:

here is some information that I hope will help.

Thank you for your interest in Reynolds consumer products.

In comparing Reynolds Wrap(R) Aluminum Foil with Reynolds(R) Plastic Wrap, we consider the moisture-vapor transfer rate of each wrapping material.
Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil has the highest moisture-vapor transfer rate of all wrapping materials. This means that it is the most effective in preventing the loss of moisture and vapor from the food. This is the reason why foil is preferred over plastic wrap for long-term food storage or freezing.

Reynolds Plastic Wrap is made from a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin, which complies with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements for direct contact with food.

Consumer plastic wraps are made from three major categories of plastics:
polyethylene (PE), polyvinylidene (PVDC) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC film is a blending of special plastic resins with plasticizers (which provide softness and cling), stabilizers and other modifiers to achieve the desired properties for a variety of uses both in the home and in the work place.

Detailed descriptions of the manufacturing process for Reynolds Plastic Wrap and for Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil are below. We hope this information will be useful to you.

Production of Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil

The brand that is known and sold all over the world is manufactured in two
locations - Louisville, Kentucky and Richmond, Virginia. Three basic steps
make up aluminum production. First, bauxite is mined. Second, it is
refined into alumina (the chemical name for alumina is "aluminum oxide").
Third, alumina is reduced to aluminum.

Aluminum for Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil is placed into alloying furnaces at
the continuous cast plant in Hot Springs, Arkansas and heated until molten.
It is then modified to the correct alloy chemistry and transferred to
holding furnaces where it is kept hot for feeding the continuous casters.

Continuous casting is a relatively new process and bypasses the conventional
method of hot-rolling massive 15- to 20-ton ingots from a two-foot thickness
down to about 0.1 inch. The continuous casters convert the molten aluminum
to coil stock by chilling it between large, water-cooled chill rollers at
several feet per minute. As the metal is "rolled", it not only becomes
thinner, but it also becomes harder as a result of being worked. At certain
stages in the reduction process, rolling is enough for further rolling.

Foil thickness is one essential factor in quality. The foil thickness is
very carefully controlled, both across the width of the web and in the
direction of rolling.

In general, reduction in metal thickness is determined by several
interrelated factors, among the most important are roll pressure, mill speed
and rolling oils.

At our rolling mills, electronic sensing devices measure metal continuously.
Variations outside pre-set tolerances automatically activate electric moors
that adjust roll pressure accordingly. Also, these variations are
continuously recorded
on strip charts in a quality control center, so that the profile of every
roll of metal is available for inspection.

Since foil products are offered in many different widths, the original web
must be slit. Either in the same operation or later, the foil must also be
wound onto cores containing the desired product length. This later
operation is called spooling.

When fully annealed and rolled, the coils are weighed and mounted on the
unwind side of a separator-slitter. The two webs are fed together over a
revolving slitter roll, which has knife-edged grooves machined into its face
at spacings determined by the desired finished widths. Either a razor blade
knife or a revolving blade bears against the knife edge of the groove,
slitting the foil as it passes over the slitter roll and under the blade.
The double web is separated after it is slit, then wound onto separate cores
for further processing.

The next production step for Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil is spooling. This
is the operation in which accurately measured lengths of foil are wound from
stock coils to paperboard cores in household foil lengths. These cores are
produced in Reynolds plants for closer manufacturing and economic control.
Standard cores have an inside diameter of about one and one-half inches.

The spooling operation is almost entirely automatic. The cores, fed from a
hopper, are picked up individually by automatic chucks that start each core
spinning before the preceding core is fully wound. The spooler slows down
momentarily (but does not stop) as the cut end of the foil web is guided
onto the next empty core. It then resumes its high-speed winding until a
serrated knife automatically cuts the foil at the predetermined length.

The spooled rolls are fed, again automatically, onto the moving belt of
carton packing machines. There, flat-stacked cartons are opened, a roll of
foil is pushed into each one and carton flaps are glued and sealed. These
full cartons are then accumulated in a case packer, which inserts them into
an open shipping case. Finally, the flaps of the case are coated with
adhesive and folded closed. The Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil cartons are
produced at the Reynolds Metals Company Bellwood Printing Plant.

Depending on the product, the number of cartons per case of household foil
varies from 12 to 72. Shipping weight per case ranges from 6 to 43 pounds.
Cases are printed in different colors according to the product they contain.

It is important to realize that the entire spooling and packing operation of
Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil is fully automatic. This means that the foil is
not touched during the final stages of production and that its cleanliness
is assured. These products are clean when they are produced; they are clean
when they are packed; they are clean when shipped. Cleanliness is a
constant concern in the production and handling of all Reynolds Wrap
Aluminum Foil products.

High quality is also an ever-present concern. Many precautions are taken at
all stages of production to assure products are as free as possible from
damage.

Production of Reynolds Plastic Wrap

The manufacture of a plastic product typically involves three steps. First,
various chemicals are reacted to form a polymeric material called a resin.
Second, the resin is mixed with other materials or additives to produce a
blend or compound. Third, the blend is processed into finished material by
heat and pressure.

Reynolds does not manufacture resins but purchases them from various
sources. The types and grades of resins purchased are selected based on the
specific properties required in the end use. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is
used for Reynolds Plastic Wrap. The resin is the major component of the
blend and the finished product. PVC has many other uses from shrink wraps
and wrapping meat in supermarket meat departments to automobile dashboards
and drainage pipe.

Blend

Reynolds technicians not only select the resin(s) used, but formulate the
total blend. Based on the attributes needed for the final product and
specific processing requirements, they develop a blend formulation having a
number of ingredients. In addition to the basic resin, additives are
selected (if needed) to ease processing of the resin and blend, plasticizers
are added to increase flexibility, colorants are added for appearance,
antifog compounds are added for film clarity during use and slip additives
are included to give the film lubricity. The additives are not limited to
just the few mentioned, nor are they all required - processing requirements
and end use properties determine the total formulation. The unique sealing
properties of Reynolds Plastic Wrap, stretchability, colors and other
attributes are all determined by the amounts and types of additives and
plasticizers included in the mix.

Processing

The processing technique used to produce Reynolds Plastic Wrap is "Blown
Bubble Extrusion."

Extruding (or extrusion; the two terms are essentially interchangeable) is
the primary method for producing continuous lengths of plastic film. In
extruding, the dry plastic blend (resins and additives) is first loaded into
a hopper, then fed into a long heating chamber, through which it is moved by
a continuously revolving screw. At the end of the chamber, the now-molten
plastic is forced into a die that forms it into the desired shape.

In the production of film for Reynolds Plastic Wrap, the plastic emerges
from the die in the shape of a tube. This tube is inflated with air, the
amount of inflation controlling film thickness (gauge) and width. The
inflated tube is cooled and collapsed yielding flat film.

Reynolds Plastic Wrap is further processed by trimming the edges off the
collapsed tube of PVC film, separating the two layers, slitting the film to
the 11 5/8-inch width used for all retail roll lengths, and spooling the
film.

Reynolds Plastic Wrap is manufactured at Grottoes, Virginia. The film is
shipped in bulk rolls to Star-Lite Manufacturing Company in Buffalo, New
York for spooling and packing.

Reynolds Plastic Wrap cartons are printed, cut, creased and edged, and glued
at our Bellwood plant in Virginia and shipped to Star-Lite for the spooling
and packaging operation. After packing, the cases are shipped to our
distribution centers.

We hope this information will be of help to you.

Ethel, The Reynolds Kitchens
ReynoldsKitchens@rmc.com < mailto: ReynoldsKitchens@rmc.com >

-----Original Message-----
From: Sent: Friday, March 31, 2000 8:21 AM
To: reynoldskitchens@rmc.com
Subject: WWW Inquiry on Reynolds Kitchens

An inquiry has been received concerning Reynolds Kitchens. It was submitted
by on Friday, March 31, 2000 at 08:21:29