Spear a Clear Leader in PET Bottle/Label Compatibility

Published: August 23, 2012, By Yolanda Simonsis

Spear, a leading manufacturer of labels for the global beverage industry, announces it has developed clear and white film pressure-sensitive label materials that are compatible with recycling PET beverage bottles. The company has worked in conjunction with the Assn. of Post-Consumer Recyclers (APR) testing protocol since 2003 and has earned the group’s Partners for Change Award for its cooperative testing activities.

According to a company source, all testing of Spear’s p-s materials and their impact on PET bottle recycling was performed by Plastics Forming Enterprise (Amherst, NH), an independently certified lab. Testing was said to be consistent with APR’s protocol and included commercially printed graphics in addition to the base materials.

With PET bottle usage on the rise approaching 400 billion units, corroborated by information specialist Euromonitor, innovations and advances in recycling of these materials are particularly welcome. Spear’s materials are said to show acceptable PET haze and “b” clarity values up to a 50% recycled content load and include the blowing of new PET bottles from the recycled flake with acceptable container haze and clarity levels.

Petcore, a European recycling association, reports Europe has a achieved a 51% PET bottle collection rate in 2011, but the Environmental Protection Agency estimates the US PET bottle recycling rate grew to only 29% in 2010. Spear’s PET Recyclable product certainly can do much to boost US numbers in the near future.

Spear claims, on average, that production of new bottles from recycled plastic requires 70% less energy versus raw materials, along with the impact of land-fill avoidance.

Kudos to Spear for its hard work and perseverance in capturing such a prestigious prize that clearly benefits green-minded consumers and the environment in which we all live.