Recycle-friendly label stock makes a splash in Europe

Avery Dennison’s CleanFlake label substrate was launched in North America and Asia before being brought to Europe over the past few months, winning environmental awards along the way.

Consisting of a white or transparent polypropylene (PP) label with a specifically-formulated adhesive, the material was designed to help facilitate the separation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles from their labels during the recycling process.

80°C caustic bath​

Segment leader for beer and beverages at Avery Dennison Materials Group Europe Eric Ide explained: “Once bottles with labels still attached have been ground into flake, in an 80°C caustic bath the adhesive ‘switches off’, detaching from the bottle but staying attached to the feedstock. Because it’s a lower density, it floats to the top, leaving the PET to sink to the bottom.”​

He emphasised that there was no requirement for a specific temperature point or caustic concentration for the process to work, but would not disclose its precise mechanism in the patent-pending material.

Predictably, there is a “small upswing”​ on price compared with conventional PP labelstock, said Ide. “It’s still a product where we need to generate higher volumes before we can reduce the price.”​

Brilliant ​

At ClosedLoop Recycling in London, md Chris Dow had not encountered the technology. But he said: “It sounds like a brilliant example of design for recycling. Labels and glue must constitute the top two issues for PET bottle recyclers.”​

According to Ide, CleanFlake has been taken up commercially by two global brand-owners in the US: one in waters and one in soft drinks. The material has been approved by both the Association of Post-consumer Plastics Recyclers (APR) in the US and the European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP), Ide reported.