Innovia unveils film for returnable bottles

Innovia Films will launch a BOPP film for the returnable beverage market at Labelexpo Europe 2011. ‘It has been a long and challenging process to find a workable solution based entirely on biaxially oriented polypropylene,’ said Mike Taylor, product manager. The new BOPP film, with high heat stability for pressure sensitive labels, will undergo extensive industrial wash off trials in the lead up to the launch.

A key feature of the new film is its caustic resistant top coat which ensures the ink remains on the film during the wash process and does not contaminate the wash solution. The film can be easily extracted from the washing equipment because its low density means it floats in the caustic wash, eliminating the problem of labels entering the cleaned bottles. It also keeps its dimensions in the wash cycle, unlike some other clear label constructions which shrink or curl.

Laboratory caustic wash tests show that with the appropriate adhesives the new film is typically removed in under two minutes. In addition, the adhesive remains with the label facestock film in the washing process. 

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