Henkel wins Finat Sustainability Award 2024 for adhesive

Henkel received the award for its Aquence PS 3017 RE product, a water-based acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive.

A group of people standing in front of a Finat sign, with Harald Jasper of Actega holding the award

L-R: Jonathan Sexton, Sun Chemical, Finat board member and chair of the Finat Sustainability Awards Taskforce; Damien Fourcade, global sustainability manager packaging at Henkel Adhesive Technologies; Harald Jasper, managing director of Actega Metal Print GmbH; Päivi Knihti, UPM Raflatac, Finat board member and chair of the Advocacy Workstream; and Pablo Englebienne, Finat regulatory affairs and sustainability manager

Henkel Adhesive Technologies has received the Finat Sustainability Award 2024 in the 'optimization of recycling' category. The company received the award at the Sustainable Packaging Summit in Amsterdam.

Finat, the international association for the European label industry, presented this award in recognition of Henkel’s work in developing a sustainable wash-off adhesive that improves the recycling process for PET bottles. 

The long-running FINAT Sustainability Awards honor sustainability initiatives in the label industry. A total of 28 entries were submitted for the 2024 edition of the awards, ranging from adhesives to new recycling methods.

Henkel's award recognized its Aquence PS 3017 RE product, a water-based acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive that is specially designed for olefinic filmic labels used for PET bottles. The Finat Sustainability Awards judging panel highlighted benefits such as the low washing temperature for some selected label constructions, along with the fact that it can be used on PET trays and offers a non-water whitening effect for clear labels.

Aquence PS 3017 RE offers wash-off efficiency at temperatures as low as 65 degrees Celsius, reducing the amount of energy used in the recycling process. It also safeguards the purity and value of the recycled PET materials. The recyclability of Aquence PS 3017 RE has been certified by the cyclos-HTP institute. In addition to fulfilling the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation requirements, the product also meets the rising demand for sustainable labels.

Aquence PS 3017 RE had its market launch at Labelexpo Europe 2023.

The adhesive was tested on Henkel Consumer Brands’ high-speed labeling systems at speeds of up to 300 labels per minute and qualified for well-known cleaning product brands.

'We plan to step up our collaboration with label manufacturers to promote the adhesive’s use in additional applications involving polyolefinic labels on PET bottles and containers. We also aim to further optimize the product for other packaging solutions,' says Elodie Picard, head of sustainability packaging at Henkel.

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