White masterbatch is a concentrate of titanium dioxide (CAS 13463-67-7, Pigment White 6) dispersed in a carrier resin, supplied as pellets and diluted into natural resin to make the finished part white and opaque. Masterbatch as a delivery form carries 40-65 wt% of active material and is normally added at 1-5 % of the base polymer, so the question every converter asks is how much white concentrate a part needs.
Titanium dioxide is the highest-volume white pigment among plastic additives, and a masterbatch is the safest way to dose it: the converter meters dust-free pellets instead of loose powder. This page covers composition, the opacity mechanism, loading and let-down arithmetic, grade selection, quality control, troubleshooting, food-contact rules, recyclability and supply.
Key figures
- 40-65 wt% typical masterbatch loading (15-80 wt% in extreme cases)
- 1-5 % typical addition rate to the base polymer
- About 5 wt% titanium dioxide in a typical finished white part
- EU food contact: FCM 610, no specific migration limit
What Is White Masterbatch?#
A white masterbatch is the delivery form of white pigmentation: the pigment is pre-dispersed in a carrier at high concentration, so the converter meters pellets rather than powder. The form exists because it gives more accurate dosing, less dust than powder, longer shelf life than a solvent-based solution, and lets a processor combine several masterbatches on one line.
The hub on masterbatch explains the other delivery forms and the let-down conventions shared by all of them.
What is white masterbatch made of?#
A white masterbatch contains 5 components: pigment, carrier resin, optional extenders, a dispersing agent or wax, and a stabilizer or brightener package.
- Pigment. Titanium dioxide is the primary white pigment; zinc sulfide (Pigment White 7) and barium sulfate are alternatives at lower refractive index or cost.
- Carrier resin. Wax is a universal carrier; a polymer-specific carrier gives a closer melt match: EVA or LDPE for polyolefins and nylon, polystyrene for ABS and SAN, sometimes polycarbonate. See masterbatch carrier resins (page in progress).
- Extenders and fillers. Calcium carbonate replaces part of the pigment at 20-40 % loading in PP; barium sulfate (density 4.25-4.5 g/cm3) adds mass and opacity at lower cost. A 60 wt% calcium carbonate masterbatch in LLDPE runs at about 3 times neat melt viscosity.
- Dispersing agent or wax. Wetting chemistry, covered under dispersing agents, restores processability: the same 60 wt% calcium carbonate concentrate returns near neat viscosity with 3 wt% wax plus 1.0 wt% zinc stearate.
- Stabilizer and brightener package. A phenolic antioxidant can interact with the pigment surface (see surface treatment below); an optical brightener sometimes pushes whiteness further.
No white-masterbatch-specific pigment loading is in our source library; the general masterbatch figure used above and below is labelled as general, pending a primary technical data sheet for a white grade.
White masterbatch, white compound or neat TiO2 powder?#
Converters choose between three forms of white: a masterbatch diluted at the machine, a ready-made white compound, and neat titanium dioxide powder dosed in-house. Masterbatch keeps flexibility across colours and grades; a compound arrives ready to mould; neat powder needs its own compounding step but skips the carrier-resin cost.
| Form | How it is dosed | When it wins |
|---|---|---|
| White masterbatch | Metered as pellets, let down at the machine (1-5 % typical) | Multiple colours or grades on one base resin; ppm-level accuracy with a gravimetric loss-in-weight feeder |
| White compound | Used as-is, no further dilution | Single colour, high volume, no in-house compounding step wanted |
| Neat TiO2 powder | Fed and dispersed in-house, often side-fed downstream of the melting zone for gentler wetting | Full formulation control; the converter already runs compounding equipment |
The compounding routes behind each option, including split-feed and premix dosing, are explained under plastic compounding.
How Does Titanium Dioxide Make Plastic White and Opaque?#
Titanium dioxide makes a plastic white and opaque because its refractive index is far higher than that of the surrounding polymer, so dispersed TiO2 particles scatter visible light instead of letting it through. The wider that refractive-index gap, the more light scatters back and the less passes through. Titanium dioxide reaches its strongest scattering, and highest hiding power, at a pigment crystal size of about 220 nanometres.
Grades, crystal forms and the full regulatory record for the pigment itself are on titanium dioxide in plastics.
Rutile or anatase: which titanium dioxide goes into white masterbatch#
Titanium dioxide exists in two pigment-relevant crystal forms, rutile and anatase, and white masterbatch for packaging and mouldings is built on rutile, while anatase is used mainly in fibres. Both forms share the formula TiO2, a molecular weight of 79.866 g/mol and a melting point of 1843-1855 degrees C, and are insoluble in water and organic solvents. Rutile's higher refractive index gives the stronger scattering that packaging and moulded parts need.
The other white and coloured minerals used alongside titanium dioxide are compared under inorganic pigments for plastics (page in progress).
Surface treatment, processing temperature and pinking#
Surface treatment is the trade-off that decides which white masterbatch a process can use: lightly treated rutile survives extrusion above 274 degrees C (525 degrees F) but reacts with phenolic antioxidants to give pink parts, while heavily treated weathering grades struggle above 232 degrees C (450 degrees F). The lower the treatment level, the higher the temperature tolerance and the greater the discoloration risk. Three consequences follow:
- Low-treated rutile oxidises phenolic antioxidants into coloured titanium-quinone complexes (pinking).
- Zinc stearate forms a colourless complex instead, substituting for a phenolic package where pinking risk is high.
- Volatilised surface treatment can condense on tooling at high melt temperature and cause lensing, a film-specific defect.
The full mechanism, including NOx gas fading and cardboard-contact yellowing, is set out under why plastics turn yellow or pink (page in progress).
Does titanium dioxide also screen UV light?#
Yes: rutile titanium dioxide screens ultraviolet light as well as visible light, which is why white parts weather better than natural ones, but it is a screen, not a substitute for a light-stabilizer package. It sits alongside UV absorbers, HALS, quenchers and carbon black among the additive answers to photo-oxidative degradation.
The comparison with carbon black and zinc oxide as UV protection is on UV screeners (page in progress).
How Much Titanium Dioxide Does White Masterbatch Contain?#
A masterbatch carries 40-65 wt% of active material as a rule, with extremes from 15 to 80 wt%, and that figure describes the concentrate: the finished white part typically holds about 5 wt% titanium dioxide. The two figures must never be confused: one is on the concentrate, the other on the whole part after let-down.
| Item | Value | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masterbatch active content, general | 40-65 wt% (15-80 wt% in extremes) | in the masterbatch | Wikipedia, Masterbatch |
| Black masterbatch for PE pressure pipe | 35 wt% carbon black; above 40 wt% avoided | in the masterbatch | Ampacet |
| Carbon black masterbatch, PE pipe study | 40 % carbon black / 60 % carrier | in the masterbatch | PMC8914640 |
| Titanium dioxide and complex inorganic pigments in the part | about 5 wt% | in the finished part | ECHA plastic-additives mapping |
| Organic pigments in the part | about 2 wt% (some 0.5 wt%) | in the finished part | ECHA plastic-additives mapping |
| Colorants in plastic products | 0.01-5 wt% | in the finished part | Hahladakis et al. (2018), via Chea et al. (2025) |
This table gives the general masterbatch range plus the closest sourced benchmark for the same delivery form, black masterbatch, rather than an invented white-specific figure, pending a manufacturer technical data sheet.
What Let-Down Ratio Does White Masterbatch Need?#
White masterbatch is let down like any other concentrate, at the usual 1-5 % of the base polymer (25 kg per tonne at the midpoint), written both as a percentage and a ratio: 2.5 % is 39:1. The pipe industry's black-masterbatch benchmark for the same delivery form runs 5-6.5 % (19:1 to 14:1); coloured pipe masterbatch runs lower, at 2-4 % (49:1 to 24:1).
The two let-down conventions and the formula#
Two conventions describe the same dilution: a ratio such as 19:1 means one part masterbatch per 19 parts natural resin, while the percentage form for the same blend is 5 %. Both must appear together, since a data sheet may give either: Ampacet quotes grades as "5 % (19:1)" and "6.5 % (14:1)". One multiplication connects loading, let-down and the final pigment level:
final active concentration = masterbatch loading x masterbatch fraction in the blend
Both conventions and the resulting pigment level are built into the let-down ratio calculator.
Worked example: from masterbatch loading to pigment in the part#
The arithmetic is one multiplication: a concentrate holding 60 wt% pigment, let down at 5 % (19:1), puts 3 wt% pigment into the part (0.60 x 5 % = 3 %). Every input is an assumption for illustration, so the sourced analogue is the pipe industry's black masterbatch: a 35 wt% carbon black concentrate let down at 5-6.5 % gives 1.75-2.3 wt% carbon black in the pipe wall, the same multiplication on a verified case. An antioxidant masterbatch follows the same logic at a lower level: 2.5 % of a 4 wt% active concentrate gives 1,000 ppm active antioxidant.
| Masterbatch | Loading | Let-down (% and ratio) | Active in the part | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PE pressure-pipe black | 35 wt% carbon black | 5-6.5 % (19:1 to 14:1) | 1.75-2.3 wt% carbon black | Ampacet |
| Coloured PE pipe | not stated | 2-4 % (49:1 to 24:1) | not stated | Ampacet |
| Masterbatch, general rule | 40-65 wt% | 1-5 % (99:1 to 19:1) | 0.4-3.25 wt% (calculated) | Wikipedia; calculation |
| Antioxidant masterbatch | 4 wt% active | 2.5 % (39:1) | 1,000 ppm | Ampacet |
No white-specific let-down figure is published in our source library; the rows above are sourced benchmarks for the same delivery form. Always confirm opacity on trial parts.
Which White Masterbatch Suits Which Process and Polymer?#
A white masterbatch is chosen by three things: carrier compatibility with the base resin, the temperature limit of the titanium dioxide grade, and the opacity the part must reach at the lowest let-down. Carrier melt index is matched to the base resin the way pipe compounders match an MLDPE or LLDPE carrier below 20 melt index to a pipe-grade resin.
Carriers that run in several base resins at once are covered under universal masterbatch (page in progress).
Blown and cast film#
Film lines are the most demanding use of white masterbatch, because at 20 to 80 micrometres every undispersed agglomerate becomes a visible gel or lens. Biaxially oriented lines (BOPE, BOPP) run white alongside antiblock, antistatic, antifog and slip masterbatches on the same structure, so carrier compatibility across the whole package matters as much as the pigment. Gels trace back to degraded polymer, unmelted concentrate, and poor dispersion.
The full film additive package is set out under additives for packaging film.
Injection moulding: caps, closures and housewares#
Injection moulders judge a white masterbatch by opacity at the thinnest wall and by dimensional stability, because pigment loading changes shrinkage. A study of injection-moulded PP coloured with green masterbatch found relative flow-direction shrinkage rising from 13.6 % to 22.3 % (transparent phthalocyanine grade) and 49.5 % to 58.3 % (opaque chromium/copper-oxide grade) across 1-5 wt% dosing, against neat PP. That study used green masterbatches, not white; the numbers show pigment loading changes shrinkage, never a titanium dioxide figure.
Shrinkage and release behaviour for the wider additive package are covered under additives for injection molding (page in progress).
Sheet, thermoforming and profiles#
Sheet and profile lines run wider and slower than film, so they tolerate extended white masterbatches in which part of the titanium dioxide is replaced by calcium carbonate or barium sulfate. Titanium dioxide's application range already includes profiles, and the same 274 degrees C / 232 degrees C processing limits apply. Loading levels for the extender are on calcium carbonate in plastics; barium sulfate in plastics (page in progress) carries the density figures (4.25-4.5 g/cm3) for that trade-off.
Food-contact and light-barrier packaging#
White masterbatch does more than colour dairy packaging: the pigment layer blocks light and protects the contents, which is why white PET and white HDPE dominate milk packaging. A light-barrier grade shields packaged dairy from photodegradation, and the pigment's food-contact status, covered below, allows the grade at the container wall.
The full barrier and compliance package is covered under additives for food packaging.
How Is the Quality of a White Masterbatch Checked?#
Four checks decide whether a white masterbatch is good: dispersion, colour and yellowness, melt flow, and gel count.
- Dispersion: rated on a microdispersion scale of 1 to 5 (1 best) on about 1.5 mil PE film, reported per lot; pipe-grade black masterbatch is rated separately, to ISO 18553.
- Yellowness index: measured to ASTM E313-20 (reapproved 2025), never the withdrawn ASTM D1925.
- Colour difference: measured to ASTM D2244-25, with CIELAB coordinates read per ISO 11664-4 (the Lab* colour space the CIE devised in 1976).
- Gel and agglomerate count: the dispersion failure mode visible directly on film, flagging the causes in the troubleshooting section below.
No contrast-ratio, hiding-power or whiteness-index method is in our source library, so this page names only the recorded yellowness and colour-difference standards; opacity is verified on trial parts against an agreed reference. The rating scales are on dispersion testing of pigments and masterbatch (page in progress); Delta E and metamerism are explained under colour measurement of plastics (page in progress).
What Goes Wrong with White Masterbatch?#
Four problems recur with white masterbatch: pinking, yellowing, gels and warpage, each with a known cause.
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Pink parts in storage | Low-treated rutile plus a phenolic antioxidant forming titanium-quinone complexes | Switch to zinc stearate or a phenol-free antioxidant masterbatch, or move to a higher treatment level |
| Yellowing | Phenolic over-oxidation, NOx gas fading, or cardboard contact | Boost the phosphite level, or change the packaging material |
| Gels and lenses in film | Unmelted concentrate, poor dispersion, or volatilised surface treatment | Adjust screw and screen design, use smaller masterbatch pellets, or change carrier |
| Warpage in moulded parts | Pigment nucleation changing anisotropic shrinkage | Change grade or adjust the moulding process |
| Melt viscosity rise at high mineral loading | A 60 wt% calcium carbonate concentrate ran at 3 times neat viscosity | Add a wax and zinc stearate additive package |
Most failure modes trace back to two variables covered above: surface-treatment level and dispersion quality. The phosphite and phenol-free routes work by protecting or replacing the phenolic chemistry under antioxidants for plastics.
Which Rules Apply to White Masterbatch in Food Contact and Packaging?#
In the EU, titanium dioxide is authorised as FCM 610 with no specific migration limit; in the US, it is listed in 21 CFR 178.3297 with no numeric limit; most other colorants sit on neither list. Food-contact white masterbatch is unusual among coloured concentrates because its core pigment has clear status on both sides of the Atlantic, while ordinary organic pigments rely on national rules instead.
EU: Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 and the Annex II metal limits#
In the EU, the titanium dioxide in a food-contact white masterbatch is authorised as FCM No 610 with no specific migration limit, and three further entries cover surface-treated grades: FCM 805 (below 1 % w/w treatment), FCM 873 (up to 2 % w/w octyltriethoxysilane) and FCM 1077 (up to 25.0 % w/w fluoride-modified alumina, including the nanoform). Every coloured food-contact article must also meet the Annex II metal limits (mg/kg of food): aluminium 1, barium 1, cobalt 0.05, copper 5, iron 48, manganese 0.6, zinc 5, nickel 0.02, antimony 0.04; cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and arsenic must be not detectable.
| Ingredient | CAS | EU 10/2011 | US 21 CFR 178.3297 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Titanium dioxide (PW6) | 13463-67-7 | FCM 610, no SML; FCM 805 (< 1 % w/w treatment), FCM 873 (up to 2 % octyltriethoxysilane), FCM 1077 (up to 25.0 % w/w, incl. nanoform) | Listed (titanium dioxide, titanium dioxide-barium sulfate, titanium dioxide-magnesium silicate), no numeric limit |
| Zinc sulfide (PW7) | 1314-98-3 | FCM 403, no specific SML; Annex II zinc limit 5 mg/kg | Max 10 % by weight of the polymer |
| Barium sulfate (extender) | 7727-43-7 | No named Annex I entry; permitted as a salt of authorised sulfuric acid (FCM 511) under Art. 6(3)(a); Annex II barium limit 1 mg/kg | Listed as a colorant for polymers, no numeric limit |
| Calcium carbonate (extender) | 471-34-1 | See the calcium carbonate page | Listed without numeric limitation |
| OB-1 optical brightener | 1533-45-5 | FCM 422, SML 0.05 mg/kg | Max 0.025 % by weight of the polymer, max 275 degrees F (135 degrees C) |
| BBOT (Optical Brightener OB) | 7128-64-5 | FCM 500, SML 0.6 mg/kg | Max 0.015 % (conditions A-H) or 0.05 % (listed food types) |
| Organic tinting pigments (for example PV23, ultramarine blue PB29) | see substance pages | Not on the Union list; Resolution AP(89)1 and national rules apply | Ultramarines listed; PV23 not listed |
US limits are maximum use levels, not recommended dosages. Check the food type and condition of use in 21 CFR 178.3297.
Full detail on how FCM numbers, migration limits and the overall migration limit work is on EU 10/2011. The alternative white pigment used in some food-contact grades is zinc sulfide, Pigment White 7 (page in progress).
US: 21 CFR 178.3297#
In the United States, titanium dioxide is listed in 21 CFR 178.3297 as a colorant for polymers without a numeric limit, so the governing constraint is good manufacturing practice: no more pigment than the effect requires. The same section lists titanium dioxide-barium sulfate and titanium dioxide-magnesium silicate on the same basis, and covers the optical brighteners in some white grades, capping OB-1 at 0.025 % / 275 degrees F and BBOT at 0.015-0.05 % by food type.
Food types and conditions of use for the section are decoded in full on 21 CFR 178.3297 (page in progress). Dosage and limits for OB-1 and BBOT are set out under optical brighteners for plastics.
PPWR, Proposition 65 and the titanium dioxide classification status#
Titanium dioxide has no harmonised EU hazard classification in force: the Carc. 2 entry introduced by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/217 was annulled by the General Court on 23 November 2022, the Court of Justice dismissed the appeals on 1 August 2025, and ECHA removed the entry on 25 August 2025, with formal deletion from CLP Annex VI still pending. The EU decision to withdraw titanium dioxide as the food additive E171 is a separate food-law matter with no bearing on this plastics classification status.
California Proposition 65 lists "titanium dioxide (airborne, unbound particles of respirable size)" for cancer since 2 September 2011; that listing applies to inhalable powder at the masterbatch producer's mixing station, not to pigment bound inside a finished part, so it concerns powder handling, not converter dosing. IARC classifies inhaled titanium dioxide dust as Group 2B; NIOSH's recommended limits are 2.4 mg/m3 (fine) and 0.3 mg/m3 (ultrafine). Under PPWR (EU) 2025/40, Article 5(4), lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium in packaging together must not exceed 100 mg/kg, from 12 August 2026. Titanium dioxide is REACH-registered at 1,000,000-10,000,000 tonnes a year.
The heavy-metal ceiling and its dates are on PPWR. The wording of the listing and what it means for bound pigment is on Proposition 65.
Does White Masterbatch Affect Recyclability?#
White pigmentation helps at the sorting line and can hurt at the density line: near-infrared sorters read white and light-coloured plastics easily, while heavily mineral-filled white films can be pushed toward density limits recyclers work to. Three points follow:
- Sorting. White and light-coloured plastics are NIR-sortable, while carbon-black-pigmented plastic absorbs near-infrared radiation and defeats standard NIR sorters, the opposite problem covered under NIR-sortable black colorants (page in progress).
- Density. Association of Plastic Recyclers guidance for PE film recommends testing when density approaches 0.996 g/cm3, since film above 1.00 g/cm3 is not recyclable in that stream; whether high titanium dioxide or extender loading pushes a specific film toward that threshold is a case-by-case check, not a fixed rule in our source library.
- Carrier and dispersion. Carrier choice and dispersion quality carry through into the recyclate exactly as in virgin resin, so poor dispersion produces the same gels whether the base resin is virgin or recycled.
The density and sorting criteria for every pigmented film are collected under design for recycling.
Who Supplies White Masterbatch and What Drives Its Price?#
White masterbatch comes from named masterbatch producers and titanium dioxide pigment producers, and its price follows the pigment market, the carrier resin, the pigment-to-extender ratio, treatment level and volume. Buyers searching for a "white master batch" quote should compare grades by pigment loading, carrier and food-contact status, not by trade name.
| Layer | Companies | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Masterbatch producers | Avient (Cesa, OnColor, Smartbatch), Ampacet, Tosaf, Cabot (PLASBLAK), Plastika Kritis, Hubron | Avient acquired Clariant Masterbatches in 2020 for about USD 1.6 billion |
| Titanium dioxide producers | Chemours (Ti-Pure), Tronox, Kronos, Venator, LB Group (Lomon Billions), Pangang | World pigment capacity 9.9 Mt/yr (USGS, 2025 estimate), of which China accounts for 6.0 Mt/yr |
| Extenders and fillers | See the calcium carbonate and barium sulfate pages | Extender choice changes both density and opacity |
Grades, certifications and plant locations are listed only where a primary source states them.
Six factors set the price of a white masterbatch:
- Titanium dioxide's market price and its capacity concentration in China (6.0 of the 9.9 Mt/yr global total, USGS 2026).
- The carrier resin chosen for the grade.
- The pigment-to-extender ratio.
- The surface-treatment level of the pigment.
- Food-contact documentation.
- Order volume and shipping region.
No published price for white masterbatch exists in our source library, so this section gives only the titanium dioxide reference price: about USD 3,200 per tonne, US import price (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, 2025 estimate). The pigment-cost trend is tracked on titanium dioxide price; grades and plants are listed in the directory of white masterbatch manufacturers (page in progress).
Which Other Masterbatches Does a White-Pigmented Part Need?#
A white part rarely runs on white masterbatch alone: the same line usually meters an additive concentrate and, for shade correction, a small dose of colour. Several masterbatches combine without conflict, which is why converters run white alongside an additive masterbatch for functional additives.
White masterbatch compared with the other masterbatch types#
The five masterbatch types differ by what they carry, not by how they are dosed: colour, white, black, filler and additive concentrates all follow the same let-down arithmetic. Black masterbatch typically runs at 35 wt% carbon black; filler masterbatch is a highly loaded calcium carbonate or talc concentrate for cost and density; liquid colour is pumped instead of pelletised, trading pellet metering for quick colour changes.
| Type | Active content | What it does | Where the chemistry lives on this site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Varies by shade | Tints or matches a target colour | color masterbatch (see below) |
| White | 40-65 wt% (general range) | Opacifies and whitens | This page |
| Black | 35 wt% carbon black (pipe benchmark) | Opacifies, UV-screens, tints black | black masterbatch (see above) |
| Filler | Highly loaded CaCO3 or talc | Reduces cost, adjusts density | filler masterbatch (see below) |
| Additive | Varies by function | Delivers a functional additive (antistat, slip, and so on) | additive masterbatch (see above) |
Shade correction belongs to color masterbatch; highly loaded mineral concentrates are on filler masterbatch. The pumped alternative to pellet dosing is described under liquid color concentrates (page in progress).
Is white masterbatch the same as titanium dioxide?#
No: titanium dioxide is the pigment, and white masterbatch is that pigment already dispersed in a carrier resin so the converter can meter it as pellets.
Why do white plastic parts turn yellow or pink?#
White polyethylene and polypropylene turn pink or yellow when the phenolic antioxidant in the compound over-oxidises, a reaction that low-treated rutile titanium dioxide catalyses into coloured titanium-quinone complexes and that NOx gases in storage accelerate.
Can white masterbatch be used with recycled resin?#
Yes, and white is one of the easier colours to run on recyclate, because opacity hides the grey cast of mixed post-consumer resin; the two checks are film density and the stabilizer package. No figure for an extra pigment-loading uplift on recyclate is in our source library, so that stays a trial-part decision, not a published number.
Was titanium dioxide banned?#
No: titanium dioxide is not banned in plastics. It is REACH-registered at 1,000,000-10,000,000 tonnes a year, listed for EU food contact as FCM 610, and listed in 21 CFR 178.3297 in the US. Its EU classification history is above (annulled 23 November 2022, appeals dismissed 1 August 2025); the separate EU decision on titanium dioxide as the food colour E171 is food law, not the plastics pigment covered here.