Trial shows Avery Dennison products compatible with HDPE packaging recycling

Avery Dennison, in collaboration with The National Test center Circular Plastics (NTCP), has conducted a semi-industrial trial assessing label releasability and recycled packaging flakes quality during HDPE recycling. Results show that Avery Dennison's standard adhesion filmic label products for FMCG applications are fully released from HDPE packaging during recycling, even under cold wash conditions.

During the trial, 50,000 white HDPE bottles with different combinations of filmic face materials and emulsion adhesives were tested. It was found that 100 percent of Avery Dennison's standard adhesion filmic label solutions are released from HDPE packaging during the recycling process, resulting in clean HDPE flakes. The trial also concluded that mechanical stress is a critical factor in enabling label releasability and must be included in testing protocols.
The results show that current requirements for label adhesives to wash off in either hot or cold temperatures will have little impact on label releasability during recycling. This indicates there is potential for recycling associations and regulatory bodies to update existing design for recycling guidelines for HDPE decoration. The results also show that FMCG brands do not need to seek out separate labeling products that enable recyclability, since Avery Dennison’s standard adhesion filmic label solutions are compatible.

Alena Maran, director of strategy and sustainability at Avery Dennison, EMENA, said: ‘These results challenge the widely held belief that self-adhesive labels do not separate from HDPE packaging during the cold temperature washing step in the recycling process. Until now, we did not have fact-based evidence that showed how our labels react during the multiple steps in the recycling process. We can now clearly see that the requirements in existing design for recycling guidelines and test protocols for wash-off labels are not necessarily representative of the full-scale HDPE recycling process.’

Freek van Rhijn, technical director at NTCP, added: ‘Using our semi-industrial recycling line, we work to find ways to improve the sorting and washing of plastics during the recycling process. We welcome the research questions and cooperation with Avery Dennison on this scientific trial, one of the largest and most extensive label releasability trial on an industrial scale ever performed in Europe so far.’

To learn more about the results of the semi-industrial trial and the role of the label in design for recycling, join the live event hosted by Avery Dennison and Packaging Europe on March 6.

The semi-industrial trial conducted did not asses the recycling steps that occurred after washing (for example, extrusion). The claims presented by this trial are under the condition that the label has passed sorting requirements.