Label-free plastic bottles

** 主要挑战 ** 社会和工业界正在努力减少一次性塑料废物，特别是塑料瓶，以解决气候变化等环境问题。同样，作为这一挑战的一部分，塑料标签应该被回收、再利用或减少。这些标签会造成塑料垃圾，但它们在装饰、提供信息、提供序列化和防伪标记方面至关重要。目前，塑料标签可以通过直接印刷在瓶子上或应用更薄的标签来消除或减少。不幸的是，前者可能会在回收过程中导致油墨去除问题，而后者并不能消除，而只是减少了塑料含量。该项目提出了一种替代技术，可以提供一种无标签的解决方案，装饰和通知，易于回收，不会产生塑料废物。**通过颠覆性创新应对挑战 ** 激光活性化学品在暴露于激光能量之前是无色的，可以提供一种不涉及标签或油墨的瓶子装饰工艺，并且对塑料废物的贡献为零。这些化学品可以在瓶子制造的第一阶段以非常低的浓度掺入（因此预计对回收的影响很小），只需将它们与其他瓶子形成成分混合即可。瓶子可以正常方式灌装和封盖，通过应用可变设计的激光图案，激光活性化学物质变得有颜色，显示所需的装饰和信息;不需要任何标签。类似地，这种概念已成功应用于塑料物品，如面包标签和医疗器械，但尚未在工业上应用于塑料瓶。鉴于一个领先的软饮料品牌每年生产300万吨塑料包装，并计划继续使用塑料瓶，在全球400亿美元的标签印刷市场中，这种颠覆性创新的潜在价值是巨大的。该项目的目标是：-* 为塑料瓶开发创新的激光活性化学物质 * 制作含有激光活性化学物质的瓶子 * 对成型的瓶子进行激光成像，以传递装饰和信息。对成品激光成像瓶进行可回收性和全面测试试验。**该项目将带来的好处 * 100%消除印刷塑料标签 * 显著减少一次性塑料废物含量 * 消除传统印刷工艺，包括溶剂，油墨和标签废物。减少能源使用 * 提高供应链效率 * 减少运输 * 提高印刷包装的可回收性

**Key challenge**Substantial societal and industrial efforts are underway to reduce single use plastic waste, particularly from plastic bottles, to address environmental concerns such as climate change. Equally, as part of that challenge plastic labels should be recycled, reused, or reduced. These contribute to plastic waste but are vital as they decorate, inform, and provide serialisation and anti-counterfeiting marks.Currently, plastic labels can be eliminated or reduced by printing directly on bottles or applying thinner labels, respectively. Unfortunately, the former can cause ink-removal issues in the recycling process, and the latter does not eliminate but merely reduces plastic content.This project presents an alternative technology that could provide a label-free solution which decorates and informs, is readily recyclable, and does not contribute to plastic waste.**Addressing the challenge through disruptive innovation**Laser-active chemicals, which are colourless until exposed to laser energy, could offer a bottle decorating process that does not involve labels or inks, and critically contribute zero to plastic waste. These chemicals can be incorporated at very low concentrations (so are expected to have little impact on recycling) in the first stage of bottle manufacture, simply by mixing them with the other bottle forming components. The bottles can be filled and capped in the normal manner, and by applying a laser pattern of variable design, the laser-active chemicals become coloured, revealing the desired decoration and information; there would be no need for any label.This concept has been analogously and successfully adopted for plastic items such as bread tags and medical devices but has not yet been applied industrially to plastic bottles. Given one leading soft drink brand produces 3 million tonnes of plastic packaging a year and plans to continue to use plastic bottles, within a global label printing market of $40B, the potential value of this disruptive innovation is huge.**The objectives of this project are: -*** Develop innovative laser-active chemistry for plastic bottles* Create bottles containing laser-active chemicals* Laser-image the formed bottles to impart decoration and information.* Conduct recyclability and full testing trials of the finished laser-imaged bottles.**Benefits this project will bring*** 100% elimination of printed plastic labels* Significant reduction in single use plastic waste content* Elimination of conventional printing processes, including solvents, inks and label waste.* Reduction in energy usage* Increased supply chain efficiency* Decreased transportation* Improved recyclability of printed packaging