UPM’s involvement in the Waste to Resource program in China sees the company assisting in unlocking high-value recycling of PET bottles, with its RW85C wash-off labels.
The domestic recycled PET (rPET) industry faces ongoing challenges in production efficiency and product quality due to non-recyclable design elements in PET bottles. Specifically, residues from traditional pressure-sensitive labels and their adhesives can contaminate the recycling stream during the label removal process, hindering high-value recycling of PET bottles. This was a core finding of a special report, jointly released by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the China Plastic Reuse and Recycling Association (CPRRA) at the 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE). The case collection focused on the Design for Recycling (DfR) and high-value application of recycled plastics.
Since the launch of Waste to Resource (WtR) program, which aims to upgrade the value chain of packaging waste through improving collection and recycling in China, GIZ has conducted in-depth research to address different industry recycling challenges.
In collaboration with UPM Raflatac and Nongfu Spring, GIZ initiated a three-year innovative pilot case focusing on the DfR for PET bottles. By using UPM RW85C wash-off labels on one of Nongfu Spring’s seasonal beverage bottles, this pilot case aims to explore a successful circular economy model of PET packaging.
An industry-first trial
The trial aimed to explore an innovative labelling solution to eliminate contamination during PET recycling. As an industry frontrunner with expertise in sustainable labelling solutions, UPM was honoured to partner with GIZ and Nongfu Spring in this pilot case.
With the support and facilitation of GIZ, Nongfu Spring utilised RW85C on both the neck and body of one of its seasonal beverage bottles. These PP film labels, paired with the RW85C, wash off easily and separate cleanly from PET flakes during the hot washing process. The adhesive and PP facestock float to the top, carrying away contaminants, while clean PET flakes sink to the bottom, achieving a higher yield of PET flakes suitable for bottle-to-bottle recycling.
“As an industry-first trial, the aim of the WtR program was to enhance the recyclability of PET packaging from the design phase without compromising the comprehensive labelling performance requirements of Nongfu Spring,” said Michelle Yu, UPM’s sustainability manager for APAC.
“We needed a wash-off label solution that was fully compatible with the recycling stream to achieve truly closed-loop recycling, and which maintained satisfactory performance in extreme conditions, such as ice cooling in the summer. Based on these considerations, UPM conducted extensive experiments during the past three years of collaboration.”
Bottle-to-bottle recycling for PET
To better facilitate the WtR program and obtain sufficient data, Nongfu Spring has invested 60,000 innovatively designed PET bottles, sold through internal company purchases. These bottles are collected via a fully traceable recycling process after use. The collected empty bottles are then handed over to PET recycling partners for a trial of the wash-off labels, including both lab tests and a commercial recycling process. The trials focused on three aspects: removal rate, recyclate quality, and wastewater index.
1. Excellent wash-off capability
The rPET bottles were shredded and washed at 85°C for 20 minutes following industry-wide standard testing methods.
RW85C achieved a removal rate of approximately 99.6 per cent after cleaning, flotation, and rinsing tests, which was significantly higher than the 40 per cent removal rate of traditional pressure-sensitive labels.
Additionally, 15 batches of PET bottles with RW85C were put into trial in a real-life commercial PET recycling process under identical test conditions.
Following sorting, crushing, hot-washing, flotation, rinsing, and drying with advanced food-grade PET recycling equipment, the removal rate of the RW85C remained at 99.94 per cent, demonstrating its excellent wash-off capability.
2. Recyclate quality
After testing, the residues in the PET recycling steam were well controlled, with the average amount of residual labels and contaminated pellets far below 600ppm, meeting the quality requirements for food-grade rPET pellets.
Thanks to the excellent performance of the RW85C, more high-value, clean PET pellets could be recovered through conventional PET recycling, achieving the result of bottle-to-bottle recycling.
In the future, if these high-quality rPET pellets can be commonly generated from PET flakes with wash-off labels, this will increase their market value by CNY 300–400 (USD 40–55) per tonne compared to the ones with traditional pressure-sensitive labels.
After the experiment, PET pellets were recycled into fibers to create fabrics for fashionable handbags, fully tapping into the potential of high-value recycled plastics.
3. Wastewater index
The program commissioned a third-party to test the wastewater generated during the trial. The results showed no evidenced impact on wastewater quality or adhesive residue on the filter screen.
All in all, the trials demonstrate that the RW85C significantly enhance the recyclability of PET packaging, compared to traditional pressure-sensitive labels. With removal rates at 99.6 per cent for lab tests and 99.94 per cent for the real-life commercial recycling process, the wash-off labels increase the availability of high-value recycled PET flakes.
In the future, UPM will remain dedicated to enhancing the recyclability of packaging through innovative labelling solutions. Nongfu Spring also anticipates further commercialisation of wash-off labels by partnering with frontrunners in sustainable packaging like UPM.
This article was first published in the March-April 2025 print issue of PKN Packaging News, p34.
