Shrink film

Shrink film is a thin transparent plastic that is wrapped around bottles, cans, and other containers for an attractive appearance and protection against tampering. Most often it is made from PVC or PET-G — these are different types of plastic that differ from the main packaging. For example, the bottle itself may be made from PET (marking 1), while the film is made from PVC, which immediately makes such packaging mixed in composition.

Examples of shrink-wrapped packaging

The main problem is that shrink film interferes with recycling. At sorting facilities, it often does not separate automatically, especially if it covers most of the bottle. As a result, the recycler receives not pure PET, but a mixture of different plastics, and such material becomes unsuitable for recycling. PVC film is especially dangerous: even a small amount of it can spoil an entire batch of PET during remelting.

In Armenia, where real collection exists primarily for PET (1) and PP (5), removing the film directly affects whether a bottle becomes recyclable material or goes to a landfill. Therefore, before handing over packaging for recycling, shrink film must be removed and discarded separately.

Not shrink film

It is important not to confuse shrink film with regular labels made from polyethylene or polypropylene.

These labels do not need to be removed when handing over recyclables.

See also

• Laminated packaging
• Polystyrene disposable tableware