Fedrigoni Self-adhesives Receive RecyClass Recyclability Approval for Rigid PE and PP Waste Streams
Independent laboratory testing shows that Fedrigoni’s ‘PP White with water-based acrylic emulsion adhesive’ and ‘PE White with UV-Cured acrylic adhesive’ technologies are compatible, respectively, with the rigid, coloured PP and HDPE recycling streams in Europe.
In both cases, the labels were tested unprinted on bottles without caps. For the PP-based technology, the adhesive represents 1% of the total weight of the tested bottle while the facestock accounts for 2.2%. On the other side, the PE-based technology was tested with the adhesive representing 1.2% and the facestock being for 8.2% of the total weight of the bottle.
The new recognition complements ´PE White with water-based acrylic emulsion adhesive´ Recyclability Approval obtained previously considered to be compatible with coloured HDPE recycling.
Moreover, Fedrigoni’s technologies are only the third of its kind to be approved by RecyClass in the PP stream and second in the HDPE stream.
According to the testing carried out by the Institut für Kunststofftechnologie und -recycling (IKTR), following the RecyClass Recyclability Evaluation Protocols for PP Containers and HDPE Containers, the technologies were found to have a limited impact on the dedicated coloured recycling streams, under certain conditions.
For both technologies, the plastic generated during the recycling process was successfully tested in high-value applications, such as bottles, with up to 50% concentration.
Following the updated recommendations in RecyClass Design for Recycling Guidelines on permanent adhesives, it is essential to continue gathering information on different adhesive types and their impact on recycling streams, in order to advance circularity of plastic packaging.
The tests conducted by Fedrigoni aid greatly in generating such knowledge, as well as reinforce the necessity to ensure compatibilities of permanent adhesives with recycling processes so they are not disrupted and quality of recycled materials is not compromised.
Source: RecyClass (Brussels, September 07, 2023)
