Shrink sleeve labels, with their 360 degree billboard and ability to label uniquely shaped containers, continue to grow in numbers and market share.

The adoption of this technology by brand owners and label converters, while extremely beneficial at the shelf edge, has not proved to be the case with the end-of-life segment of the supply chain. PET bottle recyclers have been struggling to deal with this type of label in their process, that is, to separate it from the ground PET to insure compatibility with their current processes.

Industry groups are tackling the problem on multiple fronts. At a recent meeting of the Full-Wrap Label Consortium (FWLC), Holli Alexander of Eastman Chemical stated: “We can see that there are good solutions out there, but no solution is the end-all, be-all fix for this challenge. It’s truly going to be a combination of a variety of different solutions to create the impact we are looking for.”

To date there have been three areas of primary focus; de-labeling, de-seaming and floatable labels.

De-labeling – Tests conducted by the participants in the FWLC show that perforated labels combined with de-labeling equipment can hit levels of 99.8% removal. Additionally, new label removal equipment is commercially available today that didn’t exist 18 months ago.

De-seaming – Ink manufacturer Sun Chemical, in concert with Eastman Chemical, is working on a coating that will cause the label seam to release during the hot-caustic wash of the whole-bottle wash.

Floatable labels – Shrink film suppliers have been working to develop “floatable” materials (such as polyolefin mixes) that will “float” away from the PET during recycling. Other concepts such as a new “foaming agent” coating are being studied by Eastman Chemical. Applied during the film printing, the coating causes the film to foam during the washing process and rise to the surface of the float tank.

What’s next? “I think we’re excited about the progress we’ve made. You always wish that it would be faster,” says Alexander, “but we appreciate the collaboration and cooperation we are getting with the full value chain, including the recyclers, as we continue to drive toward real long term solutions.”

While the issue has not been resolved yet, the industry is on its way to a sustainable solution.

Lou Thurston