Opackgroup and recycling partner Morssinkhof-Rymoplast have introduced a circular bottle solution using a post-consumer recycled stretch sleeve applied to a recycled PET bottle and cap.

Circular packaging starts at the design stage

The stretch sleeve is applied to the PET bottle without adhesives, which contributes to the recyclability of the packaging. The sleeve is made from 50% PCR and the bottle is made from 100% rPET. Because the sleeve fits around the bottle without adhesive, the flexible PE sleeve can be more efficiently separated from the PET material early in the recycling process.

After use, the bottle enters the collection system and is delivered to Morssinkhof-Rymoplast to be processed into flakes. Air separation removes the lightweight sleeve fraction, and sink-float separation uses density differences to separate sinking PET from floating sleeve and cap fractions.

Because the stretch sleeve is applied without adhesives, the washing process is not affected by adhesive residues. After further cleaning, a pure PET stream is obtained for reuse in high-quality PET applications.

The other material streams retain their value as well. The LDPE fraction from the stretch sleeve is recycled into new plastic raw material, and caps are processed for new applications, with a cap-to-cap recycling solution currently under development. The sleeve label is fully recyclable,” and this keeps the PET stream free of adhesive residues.