Polyethylene compositions having improved printability

The process for producing polyethylene articles having improved printability comprising:

• (a) combining (i) 85 to 98.75 weight percent, based on the total composition, polyethylene resin, said resin having a density from 0.890 to 0.970 g/cm3 and melt index from 0.01 to 50 g/10 min and selected from the group consisting of ethylene homopolymers and copolymers of ethylene and C3-8 α-olefins, (ii) 0.25 to 5 weight percent, based on the total composition, polyethylene glycol having an average molecular weight from 500 to 20000, and (iii) 1 to 10 weight percent, based on the total composition, polyethylene resin grafted with 0.2 to 4 weight percent unsaturated carboxylic acid or carboxylic acid anhydride;
• (b) melt blending the product obtained from step (a) under conditions of mixing and shear such that the melt elasticity of the resulting composition is at least 20% greater than that of polyethylene resin (i);
• and
• (c) fabricating the melt blended product obtained from step (b) to produce an article having a printable surface.