US label and self-adhesive decorative films specialist Avery Dennison (Glendale, California; www.averydennison.com) has received approval for its portfolio of film labels that comply with HDPE recycling guidelines from RecyClass (Brussels; www.recyclass.eu), a cross-industry initiative created by Plastics Recyclers Europe (Brussels; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu). The approval of Avery Dennison’s “PE White”, “MDO White” and PP Clear” labels, which feature a permanent acrylic adhesive and remain in place during a cold wash, was based on the products meeting RecyClass’ specifications for label size, ink coverage and adhesive, among other factors.

RecyClass’ guidelines state that a polyethylene (PE), machine-direction oriented (MDO) or polypropylene (PP) label must be removable from packaging through a “cold wash” process, which uses water heated up to 40° Celsius. After extensive testing it was determined that the self-adhesive materials from Avery Dennison have limited compatibility with RecyClass’ relevant HDPE recycling guidelines (see Plasteurope.com of 09.08.2019) and also have a limited impact on the current European coloured HDPE container recycling process, as long as the complete packaging is designed according to conditions specified by the organisation.