Sustainable Packaging: Intelligent Sorting of packaging using fluorescent markers

July 2018, CCL Label King’s Lynn hopes to pave the way in the recycling industry by introducing intelligent labels with invisible markers to make it easier for recycling centres to sort & separate plastic packaging.

They have been working alongside plastics recycling consultancy Nextek on the Plastic Packaging Recycling using Intelligent Separation technologies for Materials (PRISM) project. PRISM aims to help manufacturers safely reuse recycled plastic bottles, which can be differentiated from plastic packaging containing dangerous chemicals. The barcodes on the labels help to identify what type of plastic the bottle is used for - whether for food or chemicals - and they are separated in the recycling stream.

CCL Label met with North West Norfolk MP Sir Henry Bellingham to discuss how the project can become a reality at the King’s Lynn site. Sales director Jon Cowan said it would take around nine to 12 months for PRISM to be fully implemented but it needed government backing to kick-start the project.

“There doesn’t seem to be any correct direction,” Mr Cowan added. “We want to explain what has already been done and what the next steps are.” He said many of the labels CCL Labels manufacture are for the drinks industry, with clear plastic bottles holding the most value. But he said clear plastic bottles containing colour labels are sometimes mistaken for chemical grade plastics at recycling sorting centres. “We’re not trying to get economic advantage out of this, we want to get more bottles recycled,” he added. Mr Bellingham said he would relay the details from the meeting to Michael Gove, secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs. He added: “He would be very interested in this - it’s at the heart of his plastics campaign.”

Sustainability is about more than just conservation; it also means being responsible corporate citizens while producing quality products. A key part of this process is working internally with employees and externally with partners to create more efficient and environmentally friendly options.
“Keep the water in the bottle – not the bottle in the water!”

CCL Industries:
Worldwide over 22.000 employees in 167 production facilities, on 6 continents and in 40 countries. The turnover 2017 is over $ 4.8 billion.
CCL Label creates innovative packaging solutions for life. Serving the packaging and promotional industry for over 60 years. A global speciality packaging pioneer, CCL is the largest label company in the world and provides Home & Personal Care, Premium Food & Beverage, Healthcare & Speciality, Automotive & Durables and Consumer markets. The company is divided into 4 reporting segments: CCL Label & CCL Container, Avery, Checkpoint and Innovia.

CCL Label Sleeve Solutions
Rollesby Road | Hardwick Industrial Estate | King's Lynn | Norfolk | PE30 4LS

Contact person:
Nicole Orsingher | Marketing Sleeve Europe
Telephone: +43 5576 7111 79 | norsingher@cclind.com
www.ccllabel.com
www.cclind.com

This release was published on openPR.