CCL Label has added a white opaque version to its EcoFloat range of low-density recyclable polyolefin sleeve materials, which were previously only available as a transparent film. The shrink sleeve film is also available from Innovia Films (part of CCL) as RayoFloat White.
EcoFloat White supports the use of transparent PET bottles with dairy and light sensitive products, such as yoghurts and probiotic drinks. These are commonly packaged in opaque materials such as HDPE that are rarely recycled back into food grade applications.
‘We have seen a big trend in the Food and Beverage and also Home and Personal care industries to move packaging into transparent PET, which has an established food grade recycling stream,’ said Guenther Birkner, member of the management team at CCL. ‘It is our goal to support this with a functional product decoration.’
By using EcoFloat White as a sleeve with transparent PET bottles, the entire bottle is fully recyclable, while space for mandatory information and brand and marketing messages is optimised.
The sleeve material means that there is no need for black or silver inks to be used as a light-blocking barrier, and it also helps with the sink/float process step in PET recycling, because it automatically and cleanly separates from the heavier PET bottle flakes, which sink while the low density EcoFloat White does not.
‘We had to make sure that our solution was detectable by the standard technology used in the recycling industry today,’ commented Norbert Fenkart, who heads CCL’s R&D department in Austria. ‘We can use carbon-free inks to create additional light-blocking properties on the sleeve. These work well in near-infrared detection, as we have seen in tests. The underlying rigid PET bottle is detected, and the bottle is sorted into the correct waste stream.’
