Henkel has announced the launch of a new line of adhesive solutions designed to radically transform sustainability in the packaging industry, with a particular focus on labels. The goal is ambitious but concrete: to make recycling more efficient, increase the use of renewable materials, and facilitate integration into existing industrial processes without compromising performance.
The most significant innovation concerns wash-off adhesives, designed to detach completely during the mechanical recycling process of PET. This technology allows for cleaner label separation and greater purity of the recycled material, thus contributing to the achievement of the standards required for reuse in the food or cosmetics industries. This solution directly responds to the guidelines of the EPBP (European PET Bottle Platform) and the emerging requirements of the PPWR regulation.
Smart labels, cleaner packaging
In addition to wash-off systems, Henkel has developed new UV acrylic and hotmelt pressure-sensitive adhesives optimized for both plastic films and paper substrates. The formulations include bio-based or chemically recycled components, maintaining high standards of adhesion, transparency, and workability. The result? A wide range of solutions suitable for environmentally sensitive sectors such as food & beverage, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
These innovations are not designed as isolated “green” products, but as enabling tools for true design for recycling. Everything is designed to ensure compatibility with current labeling and conversion technologies, facilitating the ecological transition without hidden costs or inefficiencies.
Sustainability that starts with the supply chain
Henkel emphasized that sustainability cannot be left to the final product alone. The solutions presented are the result of intensive co-development work with printers, material manufacturers and brand owners, with a view to shared innovation and distributed responsibility.
The competitive advantage lies not only in compliance with environmental regulations, but in the ability to anticipate them, offering scalable solutions that are compatible with high-speed production lines and capable of improving the overall environmental footprint of packaging.
Towards Labelexpo Europe 2025
These solutions will be officially presented in September at Labelexpo Europe 2025 in Brussels. It will be a key moment to see up close how adhesive chemistry can become a powerful driver of sustainability. But the message is already clear: for Henkel, innovation is not just technological, it is systemic. And the future of packaging lies here.
