As sustainability demand rises, it’s important to manufacture end-use labels that can help reduce environmental footprint. Specifically, your adhesive can be a key component in accomplishing this. However, it can be challenging to know what elements to consider and what questions to ask to ensure it fulfills your sustainability needs.
Use this guide to help you navigate label adhesive sustainability and choose the right option for your end-use label application.
How to Navigate Label Adhesive Sustainability
Our solutions are also designed to help you:
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All-temperature, wash-off label adhesives meet or exceed APR Critical Guidance Criteria for PET applications.
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Receive trial and trouble-shooting support, no matter your location.
Our Bostik experts continually develop adhesive solutions that directly enhance your end-use label’s sustainability in the following ways:
How Bostik Helps You Navigate Label Adhesive Sustainability
Custom formulate your solution with us to maximize performance and processing needs.
To guide you through how an adhesive can help your label’s sustainability, click through the questions.
Questions to Help Navigate the Label Adhesive Selection Process
Sustainability can mean different things to different label manufacturers; while we all know it’s important to implement it in our society, understanding what sustainability means to your company will help you assess how to incorporate it into your label processes and products.
First, determine your sustainability goals by asking: What does sustainability mean to me?
First, determine your sustainability goals by asking: What does sustainability mean to me?
Once you define sustainability and your goals, ask: What types of label adhesives can help me accomplish sustainability goals?
Once you define sustainability and your goals, ask: What types of label adhesives can help me accomplish sustainability goals?
Then, think about: Does my label application have specific performance requirements I need to consider when choosing a sustainable adhesive?
Then, think about: Does my label application have specific performance requirements I need to consider when choosing a sustainable adhesive?
It’s also important to consider: How can I incorporate a sustainable adhesive while keeping production costs to a minimum?
It’s also important to consider: How can I incorporate a sustainable adhesive while keeping production costs to a minimum?
And, ultimately, you may be wondering: How do I know the adhesive will improve label sustainability?
And, ultimately, you may be wondering: How do I know the adhesive will improve label sustainability?
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For Example
Sustainability may mean providing labels that contribute to the circular system.
• Circular mechanical recycling shreds PET material into flakes to form a new package.
• Circular chemical recycling depolymerizes the PET material, bringing it back to its monomer form to manufacture new packaging.
Sustainability may mean developing labels that help reduce carbon emissions.
• If so, you should find ways to decrease material waste.
• Also, consider using bio-based raw materials in packaging materials, like adhesives.
If so, you should consider focusing on recycling options.
Understanding what sustainability means to your company is key to establishing a sustainable goal and ultimately finding an adhesive that can help accomplish it.
Outlining the main performance requirements your label must meet will help distinguish which adhesive can provide a solution and improve sustainability.
For example, if your label needs to:
Ensure your sustainable label adhesive solution can be used on your current equipment or across production lines on multiple end-use products.
Also, consider if the solution can allow you to produce more products at a faster speed than what you’re currently doing without impacting quality or worker safety.
TO NOTE: If your label needs to acquire sustainability certifications or be tested on the end-use product first, production costs will vary.
This is a good time to ask your supplier about ways they’re enhancing their adhesive technology capabilities to help improve your end-use product’s sustainability.
Provide successful wash-off capabilities to PET packaging:
• Then you’ll need a label adhesive that is designed to stay adhered to the label during the sink float process, providing clean separation between the label and PET packaging.
Offer strong adhesion while eliminating liner waste:
• Then you’ll need a label adhesive that provides ideal tack and peel levels so the linerless labels can easily unwind without adhering to themselves.
For example, Bostik works with the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) to ensure our solutions meet or exceed recycling criteria. By partnering with a company that takes these certification steps, you’ll save valuable resources and production time to provide sustainable improvements.
At Bostik, we’ll work with you to test facestocks on an unprinted label. This will show you whether the layers withing your label construction perform efficiently and provide you with easy processing.
Further, ask your supplier whether they’ve conducted in-house testing to prove the sustainability features in the adhesive. This can show you how adhesive formulations can help you reduce materials in your product and fit more labels on a roll to reduce energy usage. The right supplier will enable you to test all your options.
This wash-off label adhesive is formulated for all-temperature conditions, which increases your ability to use sustainable labels across applications, even for cold-fill and freezer-grade applications that require good tack down to 0°F (-17°C). It is coater-ready and fully formulated. Additionally, it favors biaxially-oriented polypropylene facestock, enabling clean PET separation.
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Our APR-approved, waterborne acrylic PSA technology offers wash-off capabilities that allow a PET package, such as thermoform, bottles and clamshells, to break down and be recycled into new PET packaging.
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With our linerless label adhesives, you can reduce materials by eliminating the label liner. This can cut waste production energy usage in half and enhance overall worker safety.
Reduce Carbon Emissions
Linerless label adhesives allow you to provide direct thermal print options for ecommerce, weigh scale and to-go restaurant labels with the same adhesion performance as a linered label. This means it has a smaller variable print length than traditional labels and lower coat weight. Additionally, our hot melt, bio-based label adhesives are derived from renewable biomass to yield a reduced carbon footprint. Bio-based options are certified by the testing method ASTM D6866-22 (Method B) and proven, patented solutions ensure your label adhesive provides high performance levels.
Improve Circularity
Certain label adhesive technologies work best to meet specific sustainability goals.
Is your goal to...
Improve Recycling
• If you want to improve recycling, a waterborne acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) can provide wash-off capabilities and fast processing speeds to reduce plant energy usage.
Reduce Materials
• If you want to reduce materials or enhance overall sustainability, a hot melt pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) is compatible with UV silicone release coatings for linerless labels. Fossil-based monomers in the formulation can also be replaced with renewable, bio-based raw materials to decrease overall carbon emissions.
• If you’re looking to eliminate solvents while still maintaining the performance level associated with solvents, a UV acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) contains 100% solids, enabling fast processing speeds to reduce plant energy usage. The reduced weight also allows for fewer shipments, reducing carbon emissions.
Improve Recycling
• If your application requires high durability, a specialty solution acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) contains higher solids than alternative solvent options to help reduce overall solvent content.
• If you need both high durability and shear levels, a UV acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) can maintain performance while also offering UV, plasticizer and chemical resistance to protect against environmental factors.
Decrease
Production Time
Simplify
Implementation
Linerless label adhesives can be tested in Bostik’s pilot coater to save you production time.
Decrease production time
Our all-temperature, wash-off label adhesives do not require pretreatment.
Our linerless label adhesives help fit twice as many labels per roll compared to traditional labels.
Simplify implementation
Both all-temperature, wash-off label adhesives and linerless label adhesives can be coated on water-based equipment, allowing you to use what you currently own.
Linerless label adhesives and bio-based adhesives can be coated on hot melt equipment.
With the market’s most complete and integrated pressure sensitive adhesives portfolio, Bostik has the knowledge and support capabilities to ensure you’re making the right decisions to enhance sustainability in your end-use labels.
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