Avery Dennison Label Materials Receive Environmental Excellence Award
Avery Dennison recently announced it has received the Flexographic Technical Association’s Environmental Excellence Award for Innovations in Sustainability. The company was recognized for its CleanFlake™ portfolio of label materials developed to advance the recycling of PET containers.
“We understand that industry-transforming innovations begin with a view of the entire value chain—from responsible sourcing to end-of-life analysis,” said Darrell Hughes, vice president and general manager of Avery Dennison Materials Group North America. “We worked closely with stakeholders, including raw material suppliers and reclaimers, to solve a very real challenge: improving the recyclability of PET containers. We are proud to be offering the industry a solution that will allow more high-quality recycled PET to enter the supply stream.”
Direct printing, paper labels and standard pressure-sensitive labels applied to PET bottles tend to lower the recycling efficiency and the quality of recycled PET. CleanFlake is a patent-pending adhesive technology that reportedly “switches off” when submerged in a caustic bath so the label cleanly separates from the PET flakes. Although these labels adhere firmly to PET bottles or containers during use, they can be detached in a conventional recycling facility and then they rise to the surface in the float/sink separation phase, allowing clean PET flakes to sink for easier reclamation.
For more information, visit www.averydennison.com.
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