Jennifer Bijkerk, development engineer, Avery Dennison, said that the new material addresses a significant shortfall in supply for compostable thermal materials: “Demand for sustainable thermal labels is huge, including compostable labels, and the European EN13432 standard imposes extremely strict requirements before ‘OK Compost’ certification can be awarded by TUV Austria. This new material, under product reference 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. As composting standards are limited, the EN13432 is also to be accepted as compostability standard in many countries outside of Europe.”

The main application for BW099 will be labelling of compostable food packaging and compostable plastic bags, especially last minute direct printed labels for fruit and vegetables that are weighed and packed by consumers in the supermarket.

The rapidly spreading bans on single-use plastics also means there is a drive towards using compostable carrier bags and other packaging, all of which will require a compostable label. Public opinion on the issue and composting being a potential solution is underlined by the Global Commitment launched by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and UN Environment in October 2018: Avery Dennison is one of more than 250 businesses supporting this commitment, working with governments, NGOs, universities, and other organisations to eliminate plastic waste and pollution.

Luuk Zonneveld, product manager, Select Solutions, said that the new material is available at 2-m 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. 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.”