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Written by: Cees van Dongen - Coca-Cola Europe Robert Dvorak / Ed Kosior - Nextek Ltd
UNESDA is the Union of European Beverages Association Its members are soft drinks
companies who conduct their business in at least five EU Member States and also national associations from across the EU27 and beyond. Our mission is to support the growth, development and understanding of non-alcoholic beverages at a European level. www.unesda.org
Background
The growth in processing post consumer PET bottles for high-end bottle-to-bottle application necessitates that we review and update policies to ensure that our stringent quality standards will continue to be met in the future. The challenge is to maintain availability of high quality material that will, in turn, enable us to use recycled content in bottles without discolouration and other visual defects. The quality of recycled material over time is deteriorating through the increased use of additives, barrier materials, glues, sleeves and other components and materials. Following recent resolutions in the Boards of UNESDA and EFBW to work towards a PET bottle recyclability Code of Conduct for its respective members, an agreed next step is to review their current and new PET bottle specifications against the guidelines for resource efficient PET recyclate to prevent and resolve issues of non-compatibility over the next two years. The aim of these guidelines - a set of specific criteria and recommendations based on current practice, recycler capabilities and the Design for Recycling Guidelines developed by the European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP), following surveys and questionnaires to members to identify problem areas - is also to reach as many companies as possible, not just UNESDA and EFBW members, and encourage them to achieve compliance with the guidelines by the end of 2012. Also, aiming to broaden the initiative to all parties that play a decisive role in maintaining the highest possible quality of recycled bottles, we call upon other brand owners and holders of private labels to act likewise. Another important aim of the guidelines is to encourage companies that design and market materials and components intended to be used in PET bottles to apply the principle of due diligence. We encourage them to bring their products to the European PET Bottle Platform so as to obtain an objective third party assessment of the impact on recyclability of their products.
Guideline details The guidelines, which have been developed over the past year, cover specifications and recommended design options for the body, label and cap of the bottle. All materials must meet the legal requirements for materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. We believe that these guidelines are in reach of every company. They are a reflection of the average recycler capability and try to strike a balance between resource efficiency, the need for innovation and shelf differentiation and recycling practices in Europe.
Executive Summary
These guidelines for the design of PET bottles define their ease of recyclability based on choices of colour, barrier layers, closures and label systems and establish criteria that can be used to avoid the production of difficult to recycle bottles to ensure a greater supply of high quality rPET to the market. There are many resources available to packaging designers and PET bottle specifiers that allow them to ensure that any design decisions ensure recyclability of PET bottles back into high quality RPET resins that can be used back into bottles as part of closed loop recycling. This report provides links to key documentation, reports and organisations that have developed and specify protocols that determine the impact of PET bottles and components on the PET recycling stream. A decision making matrix has been developed by Nextek to help categorise the impacts on recyclability of PET bottle packaging. This table, based on the Design for Recycling Guidelines issued by PETCORE and EPBP is not an exhaustive list, but it does provide guidance on items that are Recycle Friendly or Problematic for Recycling.
PET BOTTLE RECYCLE FRIENDLY CONDITIONAL Dark blue / black if NIR detectable Dark green and brown Optical brighteners O2 scavengers; UV stabilisers; AA blockers PEN / Amosorb / MXD6 barrier multilayer (if <3% total bottle weight) PROBLEMATIC FOR RECYCLING Non-detectable Dark, opaque, metallic, solid colourants Any use of fillers. Nanocomposite barrier fillers Bio/Oxo/Photo Degradable Additives EVOH >3% in multilayer Amosorb, MXD6 > 5% in multilayer Any direct blended barrier based on ie EVOH, MXD6 Materials density > 1 g/cm3 Metals / PS / PVC Neck Foils Metal / PVC / EVA Silicone (density > 1 g/cm3) Pressure sensitive / self-adhesive labels. PVC / PS / metallised. Inks that bleed, toxic or hazardous; react with PET Any other direct printing Large areas direct printed PVC / PS / PET-G, other materials with density > 1 g/cm3. Difficult to remove and/or NIR sort with heavy ink coverage.
Colourants, fillers Clear / natural and additives Light (blue or green) tints
Barrier coatings Blended barrier resins & barrier layers Closures Closure liners and seals Labels
Clear plasma coatings e.g. CVD SiOx, Monox Other layered barrier materials that separate and do not cause yellowing HDPE / LDPE / PP HDPE / PE+EVA / PP / Foamed Silicone / PET HDPE / MDPE / LDPE / LLDPE / PP / OPP / EPS Wraparound plastic Non toxic Follows EUPIA Guidelines Laser marked production or expiry date PE / PP / OPP / EPS / foamed PET & PET-G (Density < 1g/cm3). PE Stretch Sleeves Shrink sleeves with perforations and revealing a significant % of the bottle. Water soluble in 60 80C Plastic wrap, Minimal glue strip (e.g. lap join). Comply with EuPR guidelines No base cup Diameter > 50mm, Length > 100mm
Paper / silicone swimming valves (density <1g/cm3) Wraparound paper labels Metallic foils
Ink direct printed production or expiry date Shrink sleeves with perforations and revealing a significant % of PET bottle; Full body PET shrink sleeves
Adhesives
Coloured PET and other plastics density > 1 g/cm3 Diameter < 30mm, Length < 100mm. Any polymer components with density > 1 g/cm3; PVC / PLA / PS / PETG RFID tags
Table of contents
1.0 2.0 Introduction and Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 6 Benefits of Adopting these Guidelines ........................................................................................................ 7 2.1 2.2 3.0 4.0 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Savings .................................................................................................................................. 7 Quality and Consistency of rPET in Closed Loop Applications .................................................................... 7
Recycling in Context ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Principles of Designing for PET Bottle Recyclability ................................................................................. 8 4.1 Key Steps in a Typical PET Recycling Operation ................................................................................................. 8 Maximum Flake size: 12 mm ..................................................................................................................................... 10
5.0 6.0
Bottles Why Size Matters ........................................................................................................................ 10 Bottle materials, colourants and additives .............................................................................................. 11 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Bottle Materials ................................................................................................................................................................. 11 PLA Bottles .......................................................................................................................................................................... 12 PVC & PS Bottles ............................................................................................................................................................. 14 Clarified PP Materials for Bottles ............................................................................................................................. 14 PET Colourants & Fillers ............................................................................................................................................... 14 Direct Printing on PET Bottles ................................................................................................................................... 15 Closure Liners and Seals .............................................................................................................................................. 16 Paper Labels ....................................................................................................................................................................... 17 Sorting of Coloured Shrink Sleeves. ....................................................................................................................... 18
Closures (closure liners & seals) ................................................................................................................ 16 7.1 8.1 9.1 Labelling systems & materials ................................................................................................................... 17 Sleeving systems .......................................................................................................................................... 18 Label adhesives ............................................................................................................................................. 20 Barrier systems (coatings, additives, layers) ........................................................................................... 21 11.1 12.1 12.2 Bio-Oxo-Photo-Degradable Additives ................................................................................................................... 22 Other Components ......................................................................................................................................................... 23 Base Cups ............................................................................................................................................................................ 23 Other Bottle Packaging Components ....................................................................................................... 23
PET Bottle Recyclability Decision Matrix.................................................................................................. 24 Contaminants in rPET from poorly designed bottle packaging .......................................................... 25 Test Protocols for Recyclability ................................................................................................................. 26 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 PET Flake Oven Age test .............................................................................................................................................. 26 Sink Float Separation Test Protocols ..................................................................................................................... 26 Adhesives Glue Separation & Removal Test Protocols ............................................................................ 27 Sorting Tests....................................................................................................................................................................... 27
16.0 17.0
Conclusions.................................................................................................................................................... 30 Key Links, Reports & Organisations ......................................................................................................... 31 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 European PET Bottle Platform ................................................................................................................................... 32 PETCORE ............................................................................................................................................................................... 33 APR.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 33 NAPCOR ............................................................................................................................................................................... 34 UK WRAP & BRC On-Pack Labelling Scheme for Packaging ................................................................ 34
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References ..................................................................................................................................................... 36
The purpose is to inform packaging designers of recycling processes and provide a detailed technical description that allows PET bottle designers clearly understand what recyclers want, expect and the do's and donts. The aim is to provide clear guidance on how to prevent contamination of the clear/light blue bottle stream that potentially can end up in bottle-to-bottle recycling for both new pack designs as well as to allow a redesign of problematic existing bottles and their specifications.
These guidelines also aim to establish a decision making mechanism for the design and approval of PET bottles by defining the recyclability of PET bottle packaging materials and its components but also by providing guidance on the use of materials and components that need to be restricted because of their potential for detrimental contamination of PET recyclate and interfere with current PET recycling processes. The information provided in these guidelines will also allow for improved communication between key department stakeholders such as sales, marketing, technical and packaging designers and allow them to clearly discuss the potential impacts on recycling of current and future developments in PET bottle packaging. The following guidelines are therefore aimed at ensuring that PET bottle packaging released into the EU markets is specified and designed in such a way as to maximise the potential for the packaging to be efficiently recycled with minimal impact on the economics of existing recycling operations and the environment. The guidelines are aimed at providing up-to-date, consistent industry advice to those who specify PET bottles and decide on the details of the packaging being used. It will also help inform brand, marketing and design functions about the impact of their selections and design on the recyclability of the (new) PET bottle packaging. Given that new materials are constantly being developed and packaging and recycling technologies are also evolving, there is of course a need to periodically review and update these guidelines.
Improving the consistency and degree of PET bottle recyclability is however very important as it has significant direct and indirect impacts, including: PET recyclate quality and end market opportunities, Consistent supply of high quality PET recyclate back into closed loop packaging, Economic efficiency of collection, recycling and reprocessing operations.
The PET bottle industry has made significant resource efficiency steps forward through continual lightweighting and these guidelines are designed to complement these initiatives and not to hamper further innovations in lightweighting.
Design for ease of separation and removal of materials such as closures and labels from PET bottles to allow for ease and efficiency of recycling; Avoidance of using materials that are known to significantly contaminate and reduce quality of PET; Use of fewer packaging materials on PET bottles to allow for ease and efficiency of recycling.
K: Sort out coloured flakes away from clear flakes via optical sorters L: Decontaminate the clear PET flakes by: a. Decontamination, extrusion and melt-filtration of flakes into granules
b. Solid-state (in hot gas 200oC for 4-6 hours) PET granules to decontaminate and increase the intrinsic viscosity (IV) by advancing the degree of polymerisation.
Mechanical recycling processes rely on sorting techniques using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to separate whole bottles, with water based washing and separating processes also being applied. The objective is to clean and separate the different material fractions or plastic types. The processes use differences in the density of the materials for separation in water. Magnetic and inductive metal separators are also employed. Materials which cannot be separated or separate incompletely remain with the recyclate and can impair the quality of the final product. The recycling process is therefore a step by step purification process that starts with commingled and often dirty and mixed bottle feedstocks and ends up with washed and cleaned flake that has been sorted to >99.9% PET purity. When the flake has reached sufficiently acceptable purity it is ready to be decontaminated and extruded back into granules in most of the commonly applied processes.
Figure 1. An example of density and softening temperature range for common packaging plastics
Figure 2. An example of a typical specification for flake purity Property Specification 95% < 12 mm < 0.3% Food grade Source (1) 0.76 +/- 0.02 19 max. (2) 9 max. (2) 4 max. (3) 300-500 kg/m3 < 0.7% < 5 ppm < 5 ppm < 50 ppm < 0.5 YI a b b Bulk Density Moisture PVC Metal (aluminum, steel) Polyolefins ( HDPE, PP, LDPE,) PH rise
The following sections of this report are aimed at helping packaging designers, technologists, and other specifiers that design new packaging to ensure that it is highly recyclable and for these guidelines to act as an advisory tool when redesigning or updating existing packaging.
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Bottles that have a diameter of 40-50mm are highly likely to fall through openings in trommel screens and at most Plastic Recycling Facilities (PRFs) will end up being sent to landfill. Whilst some recycling plants in countries such as Austria, Belgium, France and Germany are designed to double sort and recover any lost PET products that are removed by the trommel screens, the majority of recycling plants dont have facilities to resort or have not been designed to do that. Therefore any small PET bottles that fall through the trommel screens are lost from the recycling stream and end up going directly to landfill. Small bottles are also more difficult to eject due to the smaller surface area that air jets can hit. NIR and optical sorting units use very short bursts of pressurised air to eject and remove PET bottles by polymer type and colour type into designated hoppers. Therefore in summary, PET bottles with small diameters < 40mm could be lost to waste during initial stages of PET recycling when caps and glass are being removed. It is recommended that a minimum diameter of >50mm is used. PET bottles that are shorter than 100mm may not be identified as PET bottles in automatic sorting systems, due to the resolution used on some detectors.
Bottle Size
Recycle Friendly Bottle Diameter > 50mm Bottle Length > 100mm Conditional Bottle Diameter 40-50mm Bottle Length < 100mm Problematic for Recycling Bottle Diameter < 30mm Bottle Length < 100mm
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Figure 3. Example of a well communicated change in PET resin with no impact on recycling of PET bottles
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PLA causes haziness in RPET products PLA affects PET reprocessing equipment Sticking of PET pellets in crystalliser or dryer
recycling is limited PLA bottles are only compostable in industrial composting systems NOT in home composters
PLA is difficult & costly to separate from PET
A recent evaluation report commissioned by Petcore has found that PLA in RPET at levels even lower than 0.1% (1 bottle in a 1,000) will make any RPET resin unsuitable for most applications and thus dramatically reduces PETs recycle value (Petcore, 2009).
Figure 4. An example of PET plaques showing haze (crystallinity) and discolouration due to PLA contamination (Where: Sample C = 0% PLA i.e. control and Sample D = 1% PLA test (Source: PTI Europe, 2006)
Currently the presence of PLA products in the recycling stream can be considered to be somewhat analogous to the presence of PVC. Similar to PVC, PLA can visually appear to be very similar to PET and it is not separated from PET in a float/sink stage. Consequently at even low levels it will cause significant loss of properties and performance of the final recycled PET material. This scenario is distinguished from Polypropylene or Polyethylene products where PP and PE containers are readily separated from PET with very high efficiency by NIR sorting and also by virtue of their lower density in the sink-float density separation process.
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and PS sink together with PET in wash and sink-float tanks and are difficult to eliminate. PVC degrades at the temperatures that PET is processed and evolves hydrochloric acid gas, which is corrosive and attacks PET polymer chains causing chain scission and degradation as well as corroding processing equipment. Small amounts of PVC can significantly reduce the intrinsic viscosity of PET. Due to the degradation caused by PVC, RPET resins become discoloured to unacceptable yellow or dark brown colour and the dechlorinated PVC becomes brittle and creates black specs within the RPET resin.
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Coloured PET waste has a lower monetary value than clear (typically 50% lower).
The use of strongly pigmented bottles (black, white and colours) has a significant negative impact on the quality of recycled PET since presence of small amounts of coloured fragments can discolour recycled PET during extrusion. The presence of coloured PET also increases the losses of clear/light blue PET during flake sorting as for every coloured PET flake a clear PET flake is typically lost.
Fillers or masterbatch additives for example titanium dioxide, that can be used for opacity or for lowering the cost and polymer content of the plastic should be avoided or their use minimised. Fillers can change the density of the plastic and can also contaminate the recycled PET stream and impact the clarity of the rPET resin. Bottle Colourants & Fillers Recycle Friendly Clear / natural Light (blue or green) tints Conditional Dark green, brown blue / black if NIR detectable Optical brighteners O2 scavengers; UV stabilisers; AA blockers Problematic for Recycling Non-detectable Dark, opaque, metallic, solid colourants Any use of fillers. Nanocomposite barrier fillers Bio/Oxo/Photo Degradable Additives
or
Inks used on labels and sleeves should not bleed into water (inc. caustic hot-wash at 80C). The EUPIA have published guidelines on inks that can be used on plastic packaging and that are not hazardous or toxic and therefore do not introduce hazardous substances into recycled materials. The APR has developed test protocols for testing labels and sleeves for ink bleeding.
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Inks on Labels & Sleeves Recycle Friendly Label inks are non toxic Follow EUPIA Guidelines Conditional Problematic for Recycling Inks that bleed, toxic hazardous; react with PET or
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The EPBP concluded that APTAR Food+Beverage swimming silicone valve with a density less than or equal to 0,95 g/cm3 will have no negative impact on current European PET recycling (EPBP, 2010). Therefore, all materials with a density greater than 1 g/cm3 will sink along with the PET flakes in a sink/float separation unit and will therefore be carried through the process ultimately contaminating the PET. Materials with a density of less than 1 g/cm 3 will float and are removed from the system with the lighter olefinic fraction. Closure Liners & Seals Recycle Friendly HDPE / LDPE / PP HDPE / PE+EVA / PP Foamed Silicone / PET Paper / silicone swimming valves (density <1g/cm3) Conditional Problematic for Recycling Materials density > 1 g/cm3 Metals / PS / PVC Neck Foils Metal / PVC / EVA Silicone (density > 1 g/cm3)
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Labelling Systems & Materials Recycle Friendly Conditional HDPE / MDPE / LDPE / LLDPE Wraparound paper labels / PP / OPP / EPS Metallic foils Wraparound plastic
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material type and also perforated shrink sleeves which more easily tear during baling and debaling and expose a section of clear PET bottle surface to the optical colour sorters. It is possible to teach and train sensors to optimise recovery of sleeved items and programmes exist to do this. However it is recommended that PET bottles with full body coloured sleeves include modifications to help recyclers recover this stream into the clear PET fraction. Some suggestions include:
Some sleeve types can be designed to come off the packaging items during the debaling process. Sleeves can be designed to have a few clear sections to help sort items into clear/natural stream, or Sleeves can be designed to be removed via design features such as perforations, which tear during baling/debaling and expose natural surface of the packaging item. Sleeves are then removed by air classifiers. Sleeves can be manufactured with specific markers that could be used to positively identify the item into clear/natural streams, this approach is very useful when a large volume of this sleeve type is expected in the market place.
A recent review of many MRFs and PRFs by Nextek showed that often they are currently missing the opportunity to recover greater value from what are clear PET bottles that are sleeved because the sorting systems eject these bottles into the coloured stream. For packaging designers considering using full body sleeves on PET bottles, the following considerations should be explored via trials with sorting equipment suppliers:
Clear PET bottles are typically sleeved with full body sleeves and these are typically coloured and therefore a sorting evaluation is needed to be performed on how the sensors see these bottles in terms of polymer identification and colour recognition. For example, is the underlying intensity of the signal from a clear PET bottle able to always overcome the signal received by the sensor from the sleeve? If the sleeve is coloured (or multi-coloured) then what decision will the sensor make to sort this bottle into a coloured or a clear stream? Can a system learn that a coloured sleeved bottle should be sent into a clear PET fraction stream? Sleeve thickness can play significant part in detection and newly developed bottles with shrink sleeves should be tested for sorting performance. Many shrink sleeves are multi-coloured and colour of the sleeve needs to be carefully considered. For example, when a yellow/red sleeve section of a sleeve is presented to the sensor, the sensor will identify it as yellow or red and be able to successfully eject it into a coloured stream. However, if a dark colour or a black sleeve is used it may not be able for the sensor to detect it as black is typically not identifiable by NIR (unless non-carbon black colorant is used). A combination of black and inappropriate sleeve thickness would result in weak NIR characteristics and not allow the sensor to identify it as a PET polymer bottle or determine its colour.
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Guidelines on sleeve technology for effective removal and sensor classification need to be developed as these will determine sleeve design and manufacture and ultimately help improve the recovery of clear PET bottles with full body coloured sleeves, currently classified as coloured PET bottles.
Sleeves
Recycle Friendly PE Stretch Sleeves preferred PE / PP / OPP / EPS / foamed PET &PET-G (Density < 1g/cm3). Shrink sleeves with perforations and revealing a significant % of the bottle to allow detection of clear PET bottle. Conditional Shrink sleeves with perforations and revealing a significant % of PET bottle; Full body PET shrink sleeves Problematic for Recycling PVC / PS / PLA / PET-G, other material with density > 1 g/cm3. Difficult to remove and/or NIR sort with heavy ink coverage.
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readily separates from the plastic and does not cause problems in the reclaiming process. The use of other non soluble adhesive types is discouraged and should be avoided.
Adhesives Recycle Friendly Water soluble in 60 80C Plastic wrap, Minimal glue strip (e.g. lap join). Comply with EuPR guidelines Conditional Strong adhesives with paper labels Problematic for Recycling Water insoluble (even at elevated temperatures and pH levels)
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reprocessing. Whilst MXD6 does not cause major problems to recycling it does have the potential to cause some discolouration. The Technical Committee of the European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP) in 2010 evaluated the effect of MXD6 co-injected bottles on the quality of recycled PET. The co-injected bottles consisted of a thin layer of MXD6 as the middle layer of a 3-layer construction with no adhesive tie layers and a content of approximately 5% MXD6. Data supplied from tests (carried out according to the EPBP testing protocol) demonstrated that processing conditions and bottle performances were not affected by relatively high percentages of MXD6 coinjected bottles. However, residual colour was found to be a limiting factor, although the MXD6 middle layer was able to be partially removed (by air elutriation) from the inner and outer PET layer during the PET recycling process. EPBP have stated that the co-injected bottles with MXD6 should be used only under the following conditions:
the preform must be injected so that the MXD6 layer is only in the bottle wall with a maximum of 5% Nylon MXD6; the bottle must be 3-layer construction with no tie layers; the concentration of these bottles is limited at a level up to 2% in the PET bottle market.
If these conditions are met then based on the assessments outcome and current markets knowledge of MXD6 in 2010 the EPBP concluded that Mitsubishi Gas Chemical MXD6 coinjected bottles coating will have no negative impact on current European PET recycling (EPBP, 2010). Therefore, provided that barrier materials such as MXD6 in the PET recycle stream are kept at very low levels then the impacts on recycled PET are believed to be minimal, however if the use of these barrier materials becomes more common or if they start to be used in a product with large volumes then there will be impacts such as discolouration and yellowing of recycled PET. PETCORE have proposed test guidelines to determine the impacts of barrier materials and technologies on the PET recyclate stream and include:
Yellowness Index and determination of flake colour (Doc P-0); Evaluation of the influence of additives or barrier materials in the production and
properties of bottles containing R-PET (Doc P-4); reclaim process (Doc R-1).
11.1
Bio-Oxo-Photo-Degradable Additives
A number of companies have started to offer bio-oxo-photo degradable additives for PET bottles. Misleading claims have been made that these additives will help bottles that end up as litter degrade in soil or marine environments. This is not true as PET does not readily degrade, so although the additives may break the bottle structure down, small particles and PET fragments will remain.
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This approach has serious implications as it has the potential to degrade PET materials and have serious impacts on the recycled resins. DEFRA in the UK have published a study stating that packaging containing these additives could cause problems for recycling and that products should be incinerated not composted. These additives break down and are believed to leave behind various sizes of PET fragments, which can be highly dangerous to wildlife and result in accumulation of fine plastic particles in the environment. Any bio, oxo, photo degradable additives need to be avoided as they not only do not provide any environmental or functional benefits, they cannot be readily sorted and may be detrimental to the existing recycling infrastructure
The use of other components e.g. handles, pouring spouts, sports caps etc is discouraged unless they can be easily separated in flotation tanks (e.g. have a density of < 1 g/cm 3) or are unpigmented compatible materials. Price tags where used should be attached to the closure or the label. The use of RFID tags needs to be individually assessed to ensure that they can be easily removed and separated. Where possible it is best to avoid the use of RFID tags. The use of PVC, PLA and PETG should be avoided wherever possible as these materials significantly interfere with PET recycling systems, since they have an appearance very similar to PET they become included with the PET bottles prior to the recycling process. These materials are of overlapping density (>1g / cm3) so get carried through the reprocessing system, where due to their lower melting point, they cause the formation of degraded black particles (PVC) and agglomerations of flakes and granules (PLA and PETG) that can ruin many tonnes of otherwise high quality recyclate
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Non-detectable Dark, opaque, metallic, solid colourants Any use of fillers. Nanocomposite barrier fillers Bio/Oxo/Photo Degradable Additives EVOH >3% Amasorb > 5% MXD6 > 5%
Clear plasma coatings e.g. CVD* SiOx, Monox Other blended barrier materials that separate and do not cause yellowing HDPE / LDPE / PP
Paper / silicone swimming valves (density <1g/cm3) Wraparound paper labels Metallic foils
Materials density > 1 g/cm3 Metals / PS / PVC Neck Foils Metal / PVC / EVA Silicone (density > 1 g/cm3) Pressure sensitive / selfadhesive labels. PVC / PS / metallised. Inks that bleed, toxic or hazardous; react with PET
HDPE / PE+EVA / PP / Foamed Silicone / PET HDPE / MDPE / LDPE / LLDPE / PP / OPP / EPS Wraparound plastic Non toxic Follows EUPIA Guidelines Laser marked production or expiry date PE / PP / OPP / EPS / foamed PET (Density < 1g/cm3). PE Stretch Sleeves Shrink sleeves with perforations and revealing a significant % of the bottle. Water soluble in 60 80C Plastic wrap, Minimal glue strip (e.g. lap join). Comply with EuPR guidelines No base cup Diameter > 50mm, Length > 100mm
Ink direct printed production or expiry date Shrink sleeves with perforations and revealing a significant % of PET bottle; Full body PET shrink sleeves
Any other direct printing Large areas direct printed PVC / PS / other material with density > 1 g/cm3. Difficult to remove and/or NIR sort with heavy ink coverage.
Adhesives
with
Coloured PET and other plastics density > 1 g/cm3 Diameter < 30mm, Length < 100mm. Any polymer components with density > 1 g/cm3; PVC / PLA / PS / PETG RFID tags
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packaging
Recycled PET is affected by contaminants from poorly designed PET bottles but also many types of packaging products that end up in the commingled packaging waste stream. The following is a list of often found contaminants that regularly end up in recycled PET resins:
Black Specs are found in almost all recycled PET resins. Although RPET resins are melt filtered down to very fine levels (60-100 micron) degraded particles from burnt paper label fibres or degraded PVC black specs break apart and contaminate RPET resins. Black specs are the end result of poorly chosen components such as paper labels or PVC shrink sleeves. PLA contamination is relatively new in the PET industry, but is a growing threat. PLA is difficult to identify in PET flake and during extrusion will phase separate potentially causing problems during solid stating as the granules with PLA contamination will become tacky. When RPET is processed into bottles any presence of PLA contamination will cause haziness due to induced crystallinity. There are a few PLA bottles present in the EU/UK bottle market, however PLA is becoming popular for thermoformed packaging and PLA labels have now entered marketplace and these will cause problems for PET bottle recycling. PLA labels or sleeves should be avoided for use with PET bottle packaging. PVC contaminants cause black specs in RPET, discolouration and a drop in the intrinsic viscosity of RPET. PETG is often mistaken as PET. However PETG has greater melt strength than PET and is often used for wide mouth jars and can cause gels and other processing problems. PETG should be avoided where possible. PS/OPS/HIPS cause problems for RPET resin during reprocessing and cross contamination with PS/HIPS will often result in bottle defects. Many PET bottle designers still use OPS for sleeves or for labels on PET bottles. Labels or sleeves should be made from polyolefinic materials such as xxxxxxxx? Silicone contamination has increased due to the popularity of leak resistant silicone valves and also silicone valves in sport drink caps. Silicone valves cause gels and defects in products made from RPET that contains silicone contaminants. Silicone valves should be foamed or have a density less than 1gm/cm3 or be designed in such a way that once a cap is granulated the silicone floats and is removed with the polyolefinic cap material. Adhesive contamination results in yellowing of recycled PET. Certain adhesives can also cause the formation of gels and haziness within the RPET resin and products. Aluminium contaminants found in RPET come from two sources, namely aluminium foils or residual particles from aluminium cans. Aluminium contaminants are usually removed when melt-filtered, however if they get past a filter screen they are seen as serious
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contaminants that result in products being put on hold or recalled. Aluminium components in PET bottle packaging need to be avoided.
Metal contaminants typically from springs in trigger packs or metal closures. These can cause serious problems if they get past a filtration system and result in product recalls or packaging products being put on-hold and re-sorted. Metals need to be avoided in PET bottle packaging. Coloured PET/Other Coloured Plastics cause discolouration of extruded recycled PET resin. The level of discolouration is typically related to the colour types and the amount of coloured contaminants present. Coloured PET shrink sleeves will be identified as PET and will in many cases contaminate clear PET bottle flakes. Whilst better than PVC/OPS shrink sleeves they will cause discolouration as they often heavily printed and the ink will discolour and contaminate the RPET during melt reprocessing (extrusion).
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The European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP) organization has developed a test protocol for sink-float testing. Sink floatation is an easy and efficient, density based separation method used to separate light, floating components such as caps and labels from heavy components that sink, such as granulated PET bottles flakes. Non-PET materials and components that sink together with PET flakes cause serious processing inefficiencies which limit the use of rPET in applications such as bottles. Combinations of PET with other material types that sink in water should be avoided on all PET bottle packaging (EPBP, 2010) http://www.petbottleplatform.eu/downloads/public/EPBP_QT502__sink_float_separation_(2010).pdf
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The following picture shows an example of an NIR identification of a medium sized PLA bottle and a larger PET bottle. The sensor is able to distinguish the different polymer types and also the size of the bottles and all the important and necessary information for the ejection of these bottles.
Figure 6. Example of an NIR screen reading showing a signal for a PLA bottle and PET bottle.
Bottle packaging designers also need to consider the impact of different bottle shapes and sizes and how these variables can effect sorting. As previously described, small bottles are difficult to identify especially if covered in large labels or sleeves and can also be difficult to eject. Certain bottle shapes can be difficult to flatten during baling and bottles that are not sufficiently flattened can roll around on the sorting conveyor belt, making identification and detection for the sensor difficult. New developments in sorting include the use of so called laser flake sorting systems which utilise wide spectrum (UV-Vis-NIR-MID) measurement of the polymer spectroscopic signature. Although currently expensive and not widely used, these systems are likely to become more
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widespread as costs come down. and will be important in sorting of flakes where they are highly effective at removing contaminants such as Silicone, PVC, PLA and other non-PET materials. X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) systems are occasionally used to help separate PVC from PET as XRF systems can readily detect the chlorine component in PVC. Optical sensors that utilise colour databases and detect in the visible spectrum are used to separate bottles by colour. The majority of recyclers only sort PET into two fractions:
Provided that the volumes of coloured PET justify the investment and infrastructure in sorting equipment, some recently built sophisticated recycling plants sort into coloured PET into a number of colour streams such as:
Clear & Light Blue Dark Blue Green Mixed Colours (Amber, Brown, Yellow, Red, Black, White, Purple, Orange, etc)
It is typically not commercially viable to separate all colours into individual streams. Coloured PET waste streams that contain a mix of colours are diverted away from high value closed loop recycling (i.e. bottle-to-bottle or bottle-to-sheet) and are primarily used for strapping and fibre applications. NIR bottle sorting systems are now capable of sorting mixed materials to high purity rates of 95-98% at high throughput rates of 3-5 tonnes per hour. In Europe a number of specialised NIR bottle sorting equipment manufacturers exist:
TITECH (Germany) http://www.titech.com/ S+S Separation and Sorting Technology (Germany) http://www.sesotec.com/ Pellenc Selective Technologies (France) http://www.pellencst.com/en/ RTT (Germany) http://www.rtt-zittau.de/en/ Binder +Co AG (Austria) http://www.binder-co.com/ BT-Wolfgang Binder GmbH (Austria) http://www.redwave.at
These companies all regularly perform both static and dynamic sorting tests to determine sorting efficiency of newly developed packaging and they can also provide feedback on sort accuracy and achieved purity rates as well as highlight any potential problems before the bottles enter the marketplace and the recycling stream. It is recommended that these suppliers be consulted either directly, via recycling operations or industry bodies such as EPBP, to evaluate new bottle designs. Flake sorting systems have traditionally been used to optically separate clear flake plastic materials from coloured plastic materials. In the last 2 years several companies have
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developed NIR based flake sorting systems and a wide spectrum laser sorting system has been developed by UNISENSOR. A number of flaking sorting equipment manufacturers based in Europe can perform inhouse tests that may help packaging designers understand potential impacts of bottle design and components on flake sorting performance. The key flake sorting suppliers include:
TITECH Autosort (Flake) (Germany) http://www.titech.com/ S+S Separation and Sorting Technology (FLAKE PURIFIER) (Germany) http://www.sesotec.com/ UNISENSOR Powersort 200 (Germany) http://www.unisensor.de/ ViSys Cleantech (Belgium) http://www.visysrecycling.com/ SEA (Italy) http://www.seasort.com/ Buhler Sortex (UK) http://www.buhlergroup.com/global/en/processtechnologies/optical-sorting.htm
16.0 Conclusions
Using these guidelines as a tool to aid the review of current packaging and the development of new packaging will help packaging designers, sales and marketing staff to avoid the use of materials or combinations of materials that might create problems in collecting, sorting or recycling PET bottles. The use of the guidelines will also drive a market change, as more bottles move to highly recyclable categories which will continue to improve the overall quality of recycled PET as well as the quantity of high quality of PET recyclate available for reuse back into bottles. This change will allow more widespread use of rPET at higher incorporation rates and reduce the amount of material that is currently being downgraded due to impurities or poor colour.
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Best Practices and Industry Standards in PET Plastic Recycling, NAPCOR, 1997 Conception et Fabrication des Emballages en Matiere Plastique pour une Valorisation Optimisee, Chambre Symdicale des Emballages en Matiere Plastique (CSEMP) Design for Recycling Guidelines; Designing Plastic Bottles to be Recyclable , Keith Bechard
Entropex Oct 2009, The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers
Designing Recycling-Friendly Plastic Sales Packaging: A discussion paper for Packaging Designers, DKR, Sep 2001 Designing recyclable plastic bottles, Comite Technique de Recyclage des Emballages
Plastiques (COTREP) Jan 2004
European PET Bottle Platform: PET Recycling Test Protocol, February 2010, EPBP,
www.petbottleplatform.eu
Exclusion List for Printing Inks and Related Products, 5th edition Oct 2007, Eupia.org Guidelines on Acceptability of Additives and materials in PET Waste Stream for an Efficient Recycling of PET, Petcore Packaging Design for the Environment: Reducing Costs and Quantities GG360, Envirowise
Guide
Packaging, Material recycling, report on requirements for substances and materials to prevent a sustained impediment to recycling. CEN 13688, Apr 2000 Packguide: A Guide to Packaging Eco-Design, Incpen, GG908, Envirowise Guide PET Bottles, Design for Recyclability Guidelines , The Association of Postconsumer Plastic
Recyclers
PET Bleeding Label Test, Testing, Technical Resources, The Association of Postconsumer
Plastic Recyclers
PET
Flake
Contamination
Test,
Testing,
Technical
Resources,
The
Association
of
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Positive Glue List, European Plastics Recyclers (EuPR) Version 1, Approved April 2001 Plastics packaging, Recyclability by Design, Recoup, revised edition 2009 Voluntary Design Guidelines for Designated PET Bottles , Apr 2001, The Council for PET
Bottle Recycling
Establishing European harmonised guidelines for PET bottles recyclability that will be accepted across the whole value chain. Encouraging industry to test new PET bottle concepts and/or materials before market launch according to the harmonised guidelines. Giving advice and recommendations to the different stakeholders. Sharing information and knowledge across the whole value chain.
The Platform is grouping technical experts in the field of PET production, design and recycling for an objective evaluation of new technologies and an independent assessment of their impact on the PET recycling processes across Europe. For this, the Platform has established several test procedures in order to assess the recycling profile of new packaging technologies, such as barriers, additives, closures, labels, etc. Products that pass the tests should not experience any problems during recycling. The European PET Bottle Platform has established several test procedures to assess the influence of PET bottle innovations - such as barrier materials, resin formulations, additives and non-PET components in or on PET bottles - on RPET recycling processes. Non-PET components in new or innovative PET bottles may affect specific properties of RPET which are relevant for its re-use as secondary raw material in applications such as bottles, film, sheet, strapping and fibre. The first set of test procedures are relatively rapid and low-cost techniques for the quick assessment of the recycling profile of PET bottles. All quick tests include a complete explanation of the scope, techniques, equipment and test conditions, as well as a summary interpretation explaining how to use the test results. The results of the quick tests are purely indicative, and are often used for the optimisation of further tests. EPBP has also developed a test protocol for innovative PET bottles. This protocol is designed to evaluate PET packaging solutions that generally end up in the PET recycling
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stream and that can possibly influence the quality of - or even disturb - the recycling system. Their experts will use the information provided by the applicant, combined with its expertise and knowledge database, to determine the optimal test program, using up-todate testing methods that produce qualitative and/or quantitative test results. Products that pass the tests should not experience any problems during recycling. For further information visit: http://www.petbottleplatform.eu/index.php
17.2 PETCORE
PETCORE, PET COntainers REcycling Europe, is a European association fostering the use and development of PET containers and facilitating both PET recycling and the development of recycled end material. Petcore has members from many sectors of the PET industry and today it sees a wide representation from many sectors of the business: resin producers, containers manufacturers, bottle end-users and recyclers. Petcore assists local authorities in establishing PET containers recycling programmes and maintains close relationships with European national associations dedicated to the recovery and recycling of PET containers. Petcore has developed a sound know-how in the establishment of recycling programmes and can assist communities with pertinent information about the processing, reclamation and re manufacture of post-consumer containers. In order to foster PET packaging usage, Petcore believes that PET packaging development, design, promotion and the collection and recycling of post-consumer PET containers, must be based on the three pillars of sustainability. PET packaging development as a whole must therefore be:
17.3 APR
The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) in the USA is the national trade association representing companies who acquire, reprocess and sell the output of more than 90 percent of the post-consumer plastic processing capacity in North America. APR strongly advocates the recycling of all post-consumer plastic packaging. APR promotes development of the plastics recycling industry by providing leadership for long-term industry growth and vitality. APR strives to expand the post-consumer plastics recycling industry through a cooperative effort aimed at identifying and eliminating barriers to successful commercial recycling by:
Developing protocols for the design of packaging for greater recyclability. Improving the quality of post-consumer plastics entering the system. Fostering a strong interface with end-user markets. Promoting a cooperative testing program for new packaging. Encouraging design for recyclability with guidelines and programs.
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APRs Technical Committee has established and updated guidelines for the design, the recyclability and standards for good recycling practices along with researching new technologies. APR also works very closely with other industry organizations such as the National Recycling Coalition, the American Plastics Council and the National Association for PET Container Resources. For further information visit: http://www.plasticsrecycling.org
17.4 NAPCOR
The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) is the trade association for the PET plastic industry. They promote the introduction and use of PET packaging, facilitate the recycling of PET packaging, and communicate the attributes of the PET container as an environmentally sustainable package. NAPCOR have developed PET recyclability guidelines and provide information on best practices in recycling. For further information visit: http://www.napcor.com/
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Figure 7. Example of BRC/WRAP On-Pack Recycling Label scheme for PET bottles
Retailers, manufacturers and brand owners who put packaged products on to the UK market are all encouraged to participate in the scheme. Many early signatories are in the groceries sector but the BRC and WRAP aim to cover all consumer packaging going onto the UK market (OPRL, 2010 http://www.onpackrecyclinglabel.org.uk/). There is now desire to extend this UK based label scheme to include other areas such as recycled content.
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18.0 References
APR 2011, http://www.plasticsrecycling.org/technical-resources/design-for-recyclabilityguidelines BSDA 2009, Sustainability in Practise: The Soft Drinks Industry Sustainability Strategy One Year On British Soft Drinks Association, June 2009. European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP) 2010, Swimming Silicone APTAR Valve Assessment http://www.petbottleplatform.eu/downloads/public/4._APTAR_Food+Beverage_swimming_silico ne_valve.pdf European PET Bottle Platform: Sink Float Separation Test Protocol, 2010 http://www.petbottleplatform.eu/downloads/public/EPBP_QT502__sink_float_separation_(2010).pdf European PET Bottle Platform: Glue Separation Test Protocol, 2010 http://www.petbottleplatform.eu/downloads/public/EPBP_QT504_-_glue_separation_(2010).pdf European PET Bottle Platform: PET recycling Test Protocol, 2010 http://www.petbottleplatform.eu/downloads/public/EPBP_protocol_-_website_version_(2010).pdf European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP) 2010, MXD6 Assessment http://www.petbottleplatform.eu/downloads/public/4._Mitsubishi_Gas_Chemical_MXD6_multilay er_-_opinion.pdf Petcore 2006, Protocol to evaluate the influence of PLA bottles on the clear RPET stream Petcore 2008, http://www.petcore.org/content/02182008-study-made-effect-pla-pet-recyclingstream Petcore 2008, http://www.petcore.org/content/021808-petcore-evaluation-polylactic-acid-pla Petcore 2009, http://www.petcore.org/content/09-2009-plaand-its-threat-european-petrecycle-industry Petcore 2011, Protocols evaluating barrier materials, is available from Petcore website once registered, www.petcore.org WRAP 2006, http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/Recycling_LCA_Report_Executive_Summary_Sept_2006.8a08 31f3.2839.pdf
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Glossary
EVA EPS HDPE LDPE ethylene vinyl acetate expanded polystyrene high density polyethylene low density polyethylene EVOH ethylene vinyl alcohol
LLDPE linear low density polyethylene MDPE medium density polyethylene MRF NIR OPP PEN PET PETG PLA PP PRF PS PVC RPET UV VIS XRF (g) cm material recycling facility near infrared (spectroscopy) orientated polypropylene polyethylene naphthalate polyethylene terephthalate polyethylene terephthalate glycol poly lactic acid polypropylene plastics recycling facility polystyrene polyvinyl chloride recycled PET ultra violet visible (spectrum) x ray fluorescence gram centimetre MXD6 proprietary nylon (barrier material)
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UNESDA
Union of European Beverages Associations Boulevard Saint Michel 77-79 1040 Brussels Phone : +32 2 743 40 50 Email : mail@unesda.org www.unesda.org
EFBW
European Federation of Bottled Waters Rue de lAssociation 32 B-1000 Brussels Phone : + 32 2 210 20 32 Email : info@efbw.org www.efbw.eu
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