Technological watch
Top Green Heat-Shrink PET Film Gets Thumb’s Up from Association of Plastic Recyclers
Far Eastern New Century’s (FENC) Top Green heat-shrinkable PET film for shrink sleeve labels has been recognized by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) for meeting or exceeding the requirements of APR’s Critical Guidance Protocol for Clear PET Articles with Labels and Closures (PET-CG-02). The announcement was made last week at APR’s annual meeting in Nashville.
The heat-shrinkable PET film delivers significantly improved recyclability of post-consumer PET bottles compared with alternative polyester materials such as PETG, according to George Pinter, a partner with Klear Plastic Ventures LLC (KPV), the Ann Arbor, MI–based distributor of FENC’s film in the United States and Canada. The majority of other shrink films currently used for sleeve labels are unable to meet APR guidelines.
Klear Plastic Ventures said that it will work with customers and ink suppliers to promote the use of Top Green film with washable and non-staining ink systems to provide a more complete recycling solution. Image courtesy Klear Plastic Ventures.“Offering a more environmentally friendly, recyclable film to our label customers and brand owners is very important,” said Pinter. “We are thrilled that APR has recognized this important development for FENC’s Top Green co-polyester heat-shrinkable film.”
During the PET bottle recycling process, polyester shrink-sleeve labels that remain with the bottle are ground into flake and sink along with the PET bottle flake. FENC’s Top Green PET film creates negligible clumping and intrinsic viscosity drop, both of which are detrimental to the value of recycled PET plastic. Some of the competitive polyester shrink-sleeve films melt at a temperature that is lower than the melting point of the PET bottle flake and do not crystallize. This causes clumping during the recycling process.
FENC is a 70-year-old Taiwanese company with an international reach. In addition to heat-shrinkable film, FENC is one of the largest PET resin producers in the world and operates a PET resin production site in Apple Grove, WV. FENC is also one of the world’s largest recyclers of PET bottles. FENC purchased Phoenix Technologies in Bowling Green, OH, a supplier of recycled PET, in 2019.
Klear Plastic Ventures said that it will work with its customers and ink suppliers to promote the use of Top Green film with washable and non-staining ink systems to provide a more complete recycling solution. KPV was formed by packaging industry veterans with more than 50 years of combined experience in global procurement, supply chain, business development, and operations. The company uses this background and experience to bring its customers cost-effective sourcing for their PET film, sheet, or resin requirements. The company is focused on sustainability and through its supplier partners offers post-consumer recycled and biobased alternatives across a range of products.
The heat-shrinkable PET film delivers significantly improved recyclability of post-consumer PET bottles compared with alternative polyester materials such as PETG, according to George Pinter, a partner with Klear Plastic Ventures LLC (KPV), the Ann Arbor, MI–based distributor of FENC’s film in the United States and Canada. The majority of other shrink films currently used for sleeve labels are unable to meet APR guidelines.
Klear Plastic Ventures said that it will work with customers and ink suppliers to promote the use of Top Green film with washable and non-staining ink systems to provide a more complete recycling solution. Image courtesy Klear Plastic Ventures.“Offering a more environmentally friendly, recyclable film to our label customers and brand owners is very important,” said Pinter. “We are thrilled that APR has recognized this important development for FENC’s Top Green co-polyester heat-shrinkable film.”
During the PET bottle recycling process, polyester shrink-sleeve labels that remain with the bottle are ground into flake and sink along with the PET bottle flake. FENC’s Top Green PET film creates negligible clumping and intrinsic viscosity drop, both of which are detrimental to the value of recycled PET plastic. Some of the competitive polyester shrink-sleeve films melt at a temperature that is lower than the melting point of the PET bottle flake and do not crystallize. This causes clumping during the recycling process.
FENC is a 70-year-old Taiwanese company with an international reach. In addition to heat-shrinkable film, FENC is one of the largest PET resin producers in the world and operates a PET resin production site in Apple Grove, WV. FENC is also one of the world’s largest recyclers of PET bottles. FENC purchased Phoenix Technologies in Bowling Green, OH, a supplier of recycled PET, in 2019.
Klear Plastic Ventures said that it will work with its customers and ink suppliers to promote the use of Top Green film with washable and non-staining ink systems to provide a more complete recycling solution. KPV was formed by packaging industry veterans with more than 50 years of combined experience in global procurement, supply chain, business development, and operations. The company uses this background and experience to bring its customers cost-effective sourcing for their PET film, sheet, or resin requirements. The company is focused on sustainability and through its supplier partners offers post-consumer recycled and biobased alternatives across a range of products.
This project has received funding from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 837761.
