Avery Dennison and Dow have co-developed a sustainable new hot-melt label adhesive that enables polyolefin filmic labels and polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE) packaging to be mechanically recycled together in one stream. The adhesive is the first of its kind on the label market, the companies state, and is approved by Recyclass for recycling in the HDPE colored stream – Class B. 

Hot-melt adhesives offer excellent performance in labels for chilled applications (such as food), but standard hot-melts reduce the usability of recycled PP/PE material. Because this new olefinic hot-melt is based on the same chemistry as PP/PE packaging, when it is combined with a polyolefin facestock, the label and packaging can be treated as a mono-material and recycled together. It therefore offers better recyclability than standard hot-melts without compromising performance.

The new adhesive’s development was driven by Avery Dennison’s design-for-recycling thinking and made possible by Dow’s polymer science expertise. It is based on AFFINITYTM GA Polymers from Dow and sold by Avery Dennison under the name CF3050 in the Europe, Middle East, North Africa region (EMENA) region.

“The joint launch of this new olefinic hot-melt is a great example of how collaborating with partners across the supply chain, like Dow, is key to deliver innovations that help reduce waste, enable the circularity of plastics, and advance the circular economy,” says Jarkko Pitko, senior research associate at Avery Dennison Materials Group EMENA. 

“It is Dow’s goal to deliver three million metric tons per year of circular and renewable solutions by 2030,” adds Imran Munshi, global marketing manager, Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics. “Collaborations like this will help accelerate our contributions towards a circular economy for plastic packaging.”