- For the first time in the world, schäfer-etiketten is using materials from Polifilm and HERMA to produce a label made entirely from PE packaging from the collection of recyclable materials.
- Equipped with a HERMA wash-off adhesive, this label opens up new ways of reprocessing many types of plastic packaging to a high standard.
- The project has been nominated for the Plastics Recycling Awards Europe; dm-drogerie markt is already showing interest in it.
How can the mountains of empty packaging be consistently recycled for high-quality new plastic products and packaging? In a joint project, schäfer-etiketten, Polifilm and the self-adhesive specialist HERMA are showing how the material cycle can be cleverly closed even with polyolefin packaging (PE and PP). The project has now been nominated for the Plastics Recycling Awards Europe in the category "Product Technology Innovation", which will be presented in Amsterdam on 26 March 2020. The retail chain dm-drogerie markt is also showing interest in the project. dm-drogerie markt initiated the Recyclates Forum in 2018 as an exchange platform on the subject of recycling management. "It is a promising project. Because it can effectively increase the recycling rate of plastic packaging close to households significantly and at the same time improve the quality of the recycled granulates," says Dagmar Glatz, responsible for the topic of sustainable packaging at dm-drogerie markt. The concept of schäfer-etiketten, Polifilm and HERMA kills two birds with one stone: the innovative use of recycled materials and their recyclability.
Probably unique worldwide
Based on HERMA adhesive material and a product from Polifilm, schäfer-etiketten has produced a PE label that consists of 100 percent post-consumer recycled material (PCR; from recycled milk bottles). In this material even the carrier plastic of the white pigment - the so-called masterbatch - is made of PCR PE. Such a label is probably unique in the world today. It shows in itself which valuable applications are possible for high-quality PE recyclates. In autumn Polifilm, schäfer-etiketten and HERMA were awarded the German Packaging Prize for another PE label. This was also made entirely of recycled material, although half of it was obtained from household waste and half from industrial waste. "At present, polyolefin packaging is often still recycled together with labels - and therefore including all printing inks, paints and label adhesives. This leads to a loss of quality," says Volker Hurth, Key Account Manager Cosmetics at schäfer-etiketten. "The consequence: we end up with vast quantities of flower pots and park benches, but we still use virgin plastics or only small quantities of recycled materials in cosmetics packaging.
Wash-off adhesive removes hurdle
The innovative wash-off label adhesive 62Rpw from HERMA, which is also used for the award-nominated product, now removes a major hurdle for genuine recycling of polyolefin packaging. It ensures that labels can be washed off again without leaving any residue - so that they can be sorted out of the recycling stream together with the adhesive and printing inks. Until now there has been no practicable solution for this in the case of polyolefin packaging. "This is a very decisive step towards recovering very pure granulate from shampoo bottles, for example. This is the only way to dramatically reduce the use of new PE material and conserve resources", says HERMA Managing Director Dr. Thomas Baumgärtner. "Last year we already demonstrated the possibilities of our special wash-off adhesive for PET bottles. The fact that we now have a similar solution for PE plastics makes us very proud".
Not only clean, but pure
Corresponding wash-off tests were carried out at Sorema, a market-leading supplier of systems for plastics recycling. There, labelled PE shampoo bottles provided by dm-drogerie markt were crushed and then washed at 70 degrees. Plastic flakes and label film cuttings were separated by air separation. "The small flakes were completely free of paint and glue. So we got very high-quality raw material," confirms Lorenza Lombardi, manager of the development laboratory at Sorema. The step towards a largely closed loop is now no longer a big one. "We only have to combine these two innovations with intelligent sorting technology, such as invisible barcodes or fluorescent markers," summarizes Volker Hurth of schäfer-etiketten. "We have a solution here that can really advance the material cycle - provided that the recyclers also switch from cold to hot washing for PE/PP," says Volker Hurth. "This is already a matter of course with PET bottles today. It should also be worth it for PE/PP".
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