Skanem Cardiff has developed a bottle label which it says will have a major impact on the progress of recycling in Europe’s brewing industries by enabling bottles to be re-used at least 15 times.
The clear-on-clear label addresses the growing pressure on bottlers to recycle, which in turn necessitates labels that can withstand rigorous cleansing and filling.
Paul Jones, Skanem Cardiff sales and technical manager, explains: “We have created a label that will remain as fresh in appearance on its last trip as on the first.”
Jones says the challenge was how to stop conventional reusable bottle labels being stripped off during caustic washing or falling off during 900 deg C pasteurisation. “A major brewery asked us to devise a label solution to prevent every refilled bottle having to be re-labelled”, he added. “We are now launching the system more widely.”
Skanem’s tests show the returnable label can withstand the recycling process 10-15 times without losing any of its qualities or ‘eye-appeal’.