Avery Dennison releases latest CleanFlake label materials

First introduced in 2013, CleanFlake technology solves a critical problem in PET plastic recycling by helping to ensure that a label’s adhesive stays with the label and not on the packaging so that all label material fully detaches during the recycling process. The resulting washed PET flakes can then be recycled into new PET packaging. Flakes that are otherwise contaminated by conventional label materials must be downcycled or sent to landfills or incinerators.

With new adhesive and topcoat, CleanFlake now helps more PET packages in more market segments complete the recycling process, with printability and performance equal to conventional label constructions.

‘More than ever, CleanFlake helps brands keep the promise of PET,’ said Avery Dennison’s product manager Mariya Nedelcheva. ‘Companies that use PET packaging no longer have to choose between true recyclability and outstanding performance when it comes to their labels. We are closing the gap between CleanFlake materials and conventional, general-purpose label materials. For companies that care about recyclability, the question now is not why they would use CleanFlake, but why they wouldn’t.’

According to the company, with a new proprietary adhesive, SR3011N, CleanFlake materials look and perform like any other self-adhesive label material. An upgraded topcoat provides outstanding printability, and CleanFlake materials are designed to deliver fast, flawless application on high-speed labeling machines. New facestocks offer the same attractive, no-label look like comparable Avery Dennison materials.

Products in the CleanFlake portfolio comply with Petcore guidelines for trays and are certified by Institut Cyclos-HTP. Endorsement by the European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP) is pending.

‘We are proud to offer a solution that helps keep PET plastic containers out of the waste stream and helps to increase the global supply of rPET,’ added Nedelcheva. ‘Our CleanFlake portfolio is one more way we’re helping to build a circular economy in Europe and around the world.’

More information about products in the CleanFlake portfolio can be found online.