Packaging should be simplified to help improve recyclability. Using easily recycled mono materials, removing colours and additives, and reducing the number of parts in a piece of packaging are all ways that brands can look to improve recyclability. But what if a vital part of the product packaging caused recycling issues? Such is the case with external labels or shrink sleeves on bottles, which provide crucial product information but can provide significant recycling challenges.
Labelless or ‘label-free’ bottles are produced from a single piece of material, such as plastic or glass, without an additional external label or sleeve. Such products are growing in popularity for widely recycled packaging products, such as PET bottles, where the addition of an outer plastic label can cause issues with recyclability.
Worldwide, PET is the most recycled plastic, with recycling rates exceeding 50% in certain regions, including India, Europe, and South Korea[i], but there is still a lot that can be done to improve this figure. Removing labels from PET bottles is one such step.
Not only are labels often not recyclable – creating additional plastic waste and necessitating removal either before collection or as part of the recycling process – but they can cause issues with the identification of bottles in recycling facilities. Labels may be made from plastics other than PET – including polyethylene or polypropylene – and, as many recycling facilities use machine optics to identify different materials, using alternative plastic labels can cause PET bottles to be incorrectly identified.
The trend for labelless PET bottles is now being explored with interest in the beverage industry, as governments worldwide explore projects to increase PET recycling rates and improve the quality of recycled materials. In the EU, Directive 2019/904 requires mandatory tethered bottle caps for plastic bottles by 3 July 2024 and stipulates that PET drinks bottles must contain 25% recycled plastic by 2025 and 30% from 2030. Increasing the quality and quantity of recycled PET is imperative to meet these targets.
Brands can choose to print directly on bottle caps. The small size of bottle caps will limit how much data can be printed; however, they are typically well-suited for simple product branding and logos. They can also accommodate machine-readable codes, including scannable 2D codes, to provide additional product information, traceability data, and promotional material.
Dominos Printing Sciences
Domino Printing Sciences aims to support the transition into label-free beverage bottles with a range of Bottle Closure Printing Stations, designed to print variable data and machine-readable codes onto HDPE bottle caps and closures. The company expects that negating the need for labels will simplify the process of recycling bottles and reduce the amount of plastic required overall.
“In the beverage industry, there is growing interest in labelless bottles and the role they can play in supporting the move towards a circular economy,” explains Nigel Allen, marketing manager 2D Codes & High-Resolution Inkjet, Domino. “Although plastic labels are often recyclable, they typically need to be removed prior to disposal to ensure that both labels and bottles can be recycled.” Furthermore, manufacturers are expected to save up to 5% on production costs and lower the financial burden where plastic taxation applies.
Label-free beverage bottles are gaining traction, Domino observes, especially with the South Korean Ministry of Environment set to ban external labels on bottled water from January 2026. “These new regulations pose a challenge for beverage manufacturers who need to adhere to product labelling requirements and communicate with their consumers and must find a way to do so without compromising production performance,” Allen continues. “With this challenge in mind, we worked with several leading Korean bottled water manufacturers to develop a solution for high-speed, in-line variable data printing on bottle closures.”
Variable data codes on bottle closures, especially QR codes, emerged as a solution – providing consumers with all the required data, like recycling information and product traceability, while also raising opportunities for further consumer engagement. Domino’s range of Bottle Closure Printing Stations is apparently customizable to suit various production environments, including options for the near-line printing loose bottle caps and closures at high speeds, as well as in-line coding for filled bottles.
One of Korea’s most prominent beverage manufacturers is said to have installed Domino’s first in-line Bottle Closure Printing Station, marking the first of its kind in the region – citing the complete, all-in-one nature of the solution as a factor in their decision.
“Following our success in South Korea, Domino is very pleased to be able to offer our new Bottle Closure Printing Station to the market,” adds David Bywater, Regional Development director – Asia, Domino. “We can see the trend for labelless bottles, alongside the need for variable data 2D codes including QR codes, becoming stronger and want to work with our customers to ensure that we can provide a solution that meets their needs.”
Various brands have sought to remove labels from their beverage bottles this year, including Sansu. Working alongside TotalEnergies Corbion, it produced a 100% Luminy PLA bioplastic bottle with an embossed label – aiming to streamline the recycling process by negating the need to remove extra packaging components. Coca-Cola has also trialled the removal of labels from its Sprite and Sprite Zero bottles. While the existing labels are said to be fully recyclable, their removal was thought to lower the amount of packaging material required to manufacture them and, once again, save consumers from separating components at end-of-life.
Bump Tag
Food waste is a huge issue in the UK, with figures showing that a shocking 9.5 million tonnes are produced in the UK every year. The vast majority of this waste ends up in landfill sites where it releases methane gas – contributing heavily to global warming. In the hopes of combating this increasing issue, researchers from the University of Reading have collaborated with London-based start-up, Mimica.
We’ve all been there – you go to make yourself a cup of tea, only to discover that the milk has gone past its ‘best before’ date. But the days of having to opt for a milkless cuppa could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a new food label. Scientists have developed a temperature-sensitive tag, which reveals if your food is safe to eat in real-time.
The tag, dubbed the ‘Bump Tag’, lies smooth on your food if it’s fine to consume, while pointy bumps form if it’s destined for the bin. The researchers hope the tag could help to tackle the rising issue of food waste in Britain. Mimica’s Bump Tag is a temperature-sensitive, tactile label, which produces real-time information on food freshness. The label is designed to be used on beverages, dairy, meat, or seafood, and contains a plant-based gel.
If the tests prove to be successful, the researchers believe the stickers have the potential to reduce home food waste by up to 63 per cent, and retail waste by 50 per cent. This gel degrades at the same rate as the food spoils and reacts to changes of temperature.
At the beginning of its life, the gel is liquid, which means the label feels solid and smooth under the finger. But by the end of its life – and when the food is no longer safe to eat – the gel solidifies, revealing the bumps underneath. ‘Bump helps print longer expiry dates by considering realistic storage conditions, rather than the worst-case scenarios used by the current expiry date system,’ explained Solveiga Pakštaitė, Founder & Director at Mimica.
‘We already know it offers significant economic and sustainability benefits for producers, but consumer support is essential for its success. This project will not only deliver our food waste saving technology into the meat and fish industries but also measure how well it helps people make more sustainable food choices.’The label is fully recyclable, and can simply be recycled while still stuck onto the food packaging.
Through the collaboration with the University of Reading, the researchers will conduct a series of tests to evaluate whether the label will be effective with consumers. Dr Rachel McCloy, lead researcher from the University of Reading, explained: ‘Our role in this project is really important in understanding how new technologies can support consumer decisions. We’re excited to be contributing to this research, which aims to help significantly reduce food waste across Europe. Ultimately, we want to see innovations like this contribute to a more sustainable food system.’
If the tests prove to be successful, the researchers believe the stickers have the potential to reduce home food waste by up to 63 per cent, and retail waste by 50 per cent. ‘By working alongside innovative companies like Mimica, we can help develop solutions that support consumers in making choices that are good for the environment and their pocket,’ Dr McCloy added.
When choosing a technology for marking labelless PET bottles, no solution is available to suit all brands. The optimal solution may be bespoke, developed to suit specific requirements, and depend on various factors, including those explored above. Brands looking to introduce labelless beverage options due to regulatory requirements or as a reflection of commitments to sustainability should discuss requirements with their coding and marking partner to determine the right solution.
