A bottle becomes a bottle and becomes a bottle – this isn't a utopia, it's already reality - with HERMA wash-off labels!
HERMA wash-off labels are distinguished by their reliable adhesion and high resistance to moisture – but they can be completely removed time after time by conventional industrial cleaning processes and they have a wash-off rate of 100%.
This means that when recycling PET bottles, or even PET, PE and PP packaging, the recovery of pure granulate is possible, with no troublesome residues nor any adhesive residues – for an optimal material cycle. Water-soluble labels thus make a significant contribution to the solution, not only for identifying the bottle, but also for the recycling process.
Closed material cycles like this – instead of the usual downcycling – are one of the most important requirements when it comes to sustainable management. The focus in these cycles has not only been on PET beverage bottles for a while now, but also on dishwashing liquid bottles, soap dispensers and cans for food and cosmetics. This plastic packaging is also ideally suited for use with the new wash-off labels from HERMA.
The wash-off adhesive can be combined with different label materials:
- Transparent polyethylene film (PE film)
- Transparent polyethylene film (PE film) made from recycled granulate
- Transparent polypropylene film (PP film)
- White polypropylene film (PP film)
- Wet-strength and alkali-resistant paper
You can have wash-off labels on rolls, completely printed or blank for individual printing on TT printers in your production process.
Not only for bottles - residue-free wash-off labels for all kind of returnable containers
Efficient logistics processes manage internal workflows in production and logistics as well as delivery routes to the consumer. The transport containers used for the logistics, such as stacking boxes, system containers and crates, are normally used several times, so they always have to be re-labelled.
In these usage scenarios, the wash-off labels can be removed without leaving any residues, so they are just as important in the recycling of containers that are only used once.
These reusable containers are often used in humid and cool environments. HERMA wash-off labels adhere firmly and securely even under these conditions.
In a cleaning process, HERMA wash-off labels are removed from reusable crates or trays, for example in food and plant logistics, using water, high pressure and highly effective cleaning agents. Leading suppliers such as Normpack (NL), IFCO and Europool recommend suitable wash-off labels for their defined processes.
Learn more about Wash-off labels for reusable systems and reusable containers
Wash-off labels even make PET or PP packaging recyclable
Transparent clamshell and blister packaging made of PET is on the advance: for fresh produce, convenience food and consumer goods. But the PET material is too valuable to simply burn it after use - the existing recycling processes separate the PET flakes and wash-off labels from HERMA cleanly and without residue.
Films made of PP, flexible and resistant, with good protection against grease and moisture, are a frequently used packaging material, e.g. for food. Recycling of PP packaging, which makes sense from a technical point of view, is being implemented more and more frequently. HERMA wash-off labels enable pure PP granulate to be recovered in this process.
Wash-off labels thus not only provide secure and eye-catching product labelling, but also make a significant contribution to the recycling process.
Wash away labels largely close the material cycle
The recycling of PET containers is particularly interesting for sustainability: in a 2017 study commissioned by the Nature Conservation Association of Germany, the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Heidelberg (Ifeu) found that PET was the only plastic that can also be processed as a post-consumer material into a regranulate that meets the legal requirements for a material in contact with food by means of a relevant recycling process.
Above all, the authors of the study emphasised that PET recycling can take place not just once, but several times: “The likelihood that material from a disposable PET bottle for re-use in another bottle (bottle-to-bottle) is available for further use is very high (98% in Germany). From a purely technical point of view, multiple recycling is only limited by the accumulation of additives in PET.”
If this material cycle is largely closed, the authors of the study also see it as a positive ecological balance: “Properly optimised disposable PET bottles can achieve a good environmental rating. ... However, successful PET recycling can only take place if the proportion of the input meets certain quality criteria with regard to material purity.”
All impurities such as printing inks separated by wash-off labels
The special multi-layer, pressure-sensitive adhesive from HERMA makes the recycling of PET plastics simple, efficient and consequently cost-effective, since it enables the clean and rapid removal of the wash-off labels during the washing process. The fact that the label can simultaneously separate all impurities, especially printing inks, makes it a crucial part of the solution, not only for identifying the containers, but also for the recycling process itself.
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We produce labels according to your specifications - to suit your industrial application!
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