PET
Petcore Europe and European Aerosol Association establish working group for plastic aerosols recycling / Containers over 220 ml potentially allowed from 2020 onward
 The "VCAN" aerosol can (Photo: Your Own Brand) |
At the request of the European Aerosol Federation (FEA, Brussels / Belgium; www.aerosol.org), aerosol dispensers will potentially be allowed for containers larger than 220 ml capacity from 2020 onward in Europe. The association is campaigning for an amendment to the EU "Aerosol Dispenser Directive" (ADD), to allow aerosols in plastic bottles that are 220 ml or larger. Due to the anticipated higher amounts of plastic aerosols needing to be recycled, FEA and Petcore Europe (Brussels; https://petcore-europe.org) have now established the "Plastic Aerosol Recycling Special Industry Group" working under the umbrella of Petcore Europe. The new working group was first announced on 7 February 2018 at Petcore's annual conference in Brussels, where there was a call for companies to join the new taskforce.
The ADD was written at a time when only brittle plastics were available, and bottle size was then limited and treated the same way as coated glass containers. With PET, an ideal material for plastic aerosols is now available, says Petcore Europe. In 2012, Your Own Brand (YOB, Neutraubling / Germany; www.yourownbrand.de) launched a plastic aerosol can under the name "VCAN" – see Plasteurope.com of 08.08.2012. Plastipak (Plymouth, Michigan / USA; www.plastipak.com) also carries the “SprayPET” can that was launched in 2013 by then UK PET packaging specialist APPE – see Plasteurope.com of 15.10.2013 – which Plastipak acquired in 2015 – see Plasteurope.com of 07.07.2015.
According to market players, plastic aerosols are subjected to stricter testing than EU safety standards for aluminium aerosols, using the water submersion test for containers. With only a handful of companies producing aluminium aerosols in the EU, there is very strong lobbying and protectionism for the metal economy.
Since the potential amendment of the EU directive could turn niche production into a mass market, more of that packaging would ultimately flow into European collection, sorting and recycling systems. Therefore, both design guidelines and appropriate recycling processes are necessary, emphasise the associations.
The ADD was written at a time when only brittle plastics were available, and bottle size was then limited and treated the same way as coated glass containers. With PET, an ideal material for plastic aerosols is now available, says Petcore Europe. In 2012, Your Own Brand (YOB, Neutraubling / Germany; www.yourownbrand.de) launched a plastic aerosol can under the name "VCAN" – see Plasteurope.com of 08.08.2012. Plastipak (Plymouth, Michigan / USA; www.plastipak.com) also carries the “SprayPET” can that was launched in 2013 by then UK PET packaging specialist APPE – see Plasteurope.com of 15.10.2013 – which Plastipak acquired in 2015 – see Plasteurope.com of 07.07.2015.
According to market players, plastic aerosols are subjected to stricter testing than EU safety standards for aluminium aerosols, using the water submersion test for containers. With only a handful of companies producing aluminium aerosols in the EU, there is very strong lobbying and protectionism for the metal economy.
Since the potential amendment of the EU directive could turn niche production into a mass market, more of that packaging would ultimately flow into European collection, sorting and recycling systems. Therefore, both design guidelines and appropriate recycling processes are necessary, emphasise the associations.
15.02.2018 Plasteurope.com [239051-0]
Published on 15.02.2018
German version of this article...