UV light exposure can induce the degradation of specific vitamins, flavours, colorants, and additives, resulting in diminished potency and a shortened shelf life. Penn Color’s ‘66UV11964” UV blocker can be used in PET bottles to safeguard UV-sensitive contents against photodegradation when exposed to direct light, thereby protecting essential product characteristics like aroma, flavour, and colour. Recyclability evaluation was carried out to ensure that the additive does not cause yellowing on the PET matrix during the recycling process.
Trials were carried out at Plastic Forming Enterprises (PFE) following the Recyclability Evaluation Protocol for PET bottles from EPBP1, and results show that no significant deviations were observed on the quality of the produced recyclates. The stated approval is valid under the condition that the concentration of the UV stabiliser does not exceed 0.6 wt% in a PET bottle2.
Following this process, Penn Color’s technology will be integrated within the RecyClass Online Tool3 and will also be considered within the scope of RecyClass Recyclability Certifications4 for plastic packaging.
In general, the use of additives in the PET stream has caused issues for recycling due to the subsequent yellowing of the final recycled materials. What this approval shows to the industry is that with innovation it is possible to limit or avoid such adverse impacts on recyclates – and, therefore, move closer to a circular plastic future.
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/2/ Full list of conditions can be found in the Recyclability Approval Letter: Penn Color ‘66UV11964’
/4/ RecyClass Recyclability Certifications
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