With the development of a new certified compostable thermal label material, Avery Dennison is now able to address what it says is a ‘significant shortfall in supply for compostable thermal materials’.
“Demand for sustainable thermal labels is huge, including compostable labels,” said Jennifer Bijkerk, a development engineer at Avery Dennison in Oegstgeest, the Netherlands.
This new material, referenced as BW099 (Thermal Eco BPA Free FSC SX6030-BG40WH FSC), uses a new facestock/adhesive combination to ensure a robust and practical material that needs no special storage conditions and which has a normal shelf life.
The material has been granted OK Compost certification by TüV Austria, signifying that it meets the requirements of the EN13432 compostability standard. It is therefore highly suitable for applications such as the labelling of compostable food packaging and compostable plastic bags, as well as last-minute direct printed labels for fruit and vegetables that are weighed and packed by consumers in the supermarket.
Moreover, as single-use plastics increasingly come under attack, more and more compostable carrier bags and packaging are being used, all of which require a compostable label. The new material is available at 2m width and with optimised production efficiency to support the broader demands of the market.
“We know how important this product category is to converters and end users, and we see it as a key contributor to our own wider and highly ambitious sustainability goals,” said Luuk Zonneveld, product manager Select Solutions.
“We have been able to use conventional technology to produce this innovation, by creating a unique facestock/adhesive combination, and work is already well underway towards expanding our compostable range with more certified products.”