PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2021

LABELLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 05/21 www.petpla.net 30 Is your label recyclable? – Test it! Design for recycling For all plastic resins and container types, label selection should be considered carefully to find the solution most compatible with the recycling process that also provides the necessary performance characteristics. At a minimum, labels must be designed so that Near Infrared (NIR) sorting machinery can identify the polymer with the label attached, and labels should use adhesives that release from the bottle or packaging item. Metal foil or metalised labels may also interfere with automated sorting and testing is recommended. Removing adhesives is a significant component to the cost of recycling so the packages using the lowest quantity of appropriate adhesive are the most compatible. All labels should meet guidance for coverage and compatibility, and testing should be conducted in any areas where this is unclear. PETplanet presents three organisations pushing tests for the recycling of labels on plastic containers: Celab Europe, the Asso- ciation of Plastic Recyclers (US), and RecyClass with a new quick test for washing procedures for film and paper labels applied on HDPE & PP containers. The mission of the Association of Plastic Recyclers Foundation based in the US is to drive sustainability solutions for plastics packaging in order to support the Circular Econ- omy. Through education, research and collaboration, the Foundation seeks to enhance the value of plastic recycling as well as expand plas- tic recycling efforts at the state and national level. Established by the Association of Plastic Recyclers, the Foundation for Plastic Recycling is known for its commitment to enhanc- ing and expanding plastics recycling efforts in order to garner economic and environmental benefits. Especially for the recycling of labels, inks and adhesives the Asso- ciation of Plastic Recyclers offers guidelines and tests for:  Evaluation of the Near Infrared (NIR) sorting potential of a whole plastic article;  Evaluation of sorting potential for plastic articles utilising metal, met- alised or metallic printed compo- nents;  HDPE bleeding label test;  Critical guidance protocol for HDPE natural bottles with labels;  Critical guidance protocol for HDPE coloured bottles with labels;  PET package component sink/float evaluation;  Benchmark test for clear PET arti- cles with labels and closures;  Critical guidance protocol for clear PET articles with labels and clo- sures. Additional guidance for choosing labels for PET bottles can be found:  Film pressure sensitive labels on PET containers;  Shrink sleeve labels on PET con- tainers. www.plasticsrecycling.org/lab els- inks-adhesives Finat, the European self-adhe- sive labelling industry association, announced the launch of Celab- Europe, a significant new initiative designed to create circular economy for self-adhesive label materials in Europe. By establishing a rep- resentative value-chain organisa- tion, Celab-Europe works to identify and collectively scale recycling and re-use solutions for the self-adhe- sive label liner and matrix materials. The initiative aims to develop a sus- tainable and circular business model for over 75% of the used liner and matrix materials in Europe by 2025. Nearly 20 leading players from across the label value chain in Europe have since committed to support the initiative, including raw materials producers (papers, films, silicones, adhesives), label stock producers, and label companies. As the association with the larg- est interest group, Finat is proud to announce that it will host the pro- ject, with management undertaken by Sloop Consulting of The Neth- erlands (who were also involved in the foundation and management of the flexible packaging consortium Ceflex). Work streams Celab-Europe has created a set of deliverables to be completed by 2025 which have been assigned to four interconnected work streams:  Data mining: Geographical ‘heat mapping’ of material usage to iden- tify where materials become waste, and in what quantities;  Recycling solutions: Identifying, proving, and supporting the devel- opment of sustainable end markets for repurposed/recycled liner and matrix materials;  Logistics: Connecting with the European transportation and recycling sector to develop and optimise collection systems for liner and matrix;  Legal framework: To monitor and advocate the development of regu- lations and guidelines that supports the development of a sustainable business model for recycling in Europe. www.celabglobal.org A third association comes with a new initiative: RecyClass is a com- prehensive cross-industry initiative that works to advance plastic packag- ing recyclability and to establish a har- monised approach towards recycled content calculation and its traceability in Europe. Activities within RecyClass include the development of recyclabil- ity evaluation protocols and scientific testing of materials which serve as the base for the Design for Recycling LABELLING