Technical Committee of the European PET Bottle Platform awards temporary endorsement to full body sleeves used on HPC PET bottles

Petcore Europe’s ODR Working Group has achieved a three-year temporary endorsement for perforated sleeves on Household and Personal Care (HPC) PET bottles by the European PET Bottle Platform.

The ODR Working Group has been working on increased recyclability of sleeved PET bottles as the use of sleeves can cause problems in sorting PET bottles via near-infrared and optical detectors used in waste plastic packaging sorting and recovery plants.

In order not to lose the valuable material and include it in the right sorting stream, the Group came up with a solution of perforated sleeves, which can be easily removed by the consumers.

The full body sleeves have been approved for a period of three years, providing they meet a number of conditions.

These conditions include being easily identifiable by consumers, carrying a standardised message to the consumer, and having a standardised perforation concept, in terms of both functionality and design.

Gian De Belder, Petcore Europe ODR Working Group Chairman, said: “The approval us a great example of a cross-value chain approach. Petcore Europe, EPBP, Plastics Recyclers Europe and other associations worked together to align the industry and improve the design-for-recycling of HPC PET bottles.”