Conception et élaboration d'étiquettes autoadhésives "écologiques" par microencapsulation d'adhésif – ECOLABELS

Presently, the annual world market production of the label represents 57 billion of US Dollars which corresponds to about 30 billion of m ². The self adhesive labels constitute the 2/3 of this production. A self adhesive label is made up of a frontal (destined to transmit the information of the future label) coated by a pressure sensitive adhesive layer and a dorsal bi-layer, which in turn is constituted by silicone film and paper substrate. The latter material is used to protect the label before its gluing and it is removed just before this operation and generally taken a way. It, however, represents the highest production cost of the entire label (its price can reach 3000 € /ton) and it is not possible to be recycled, because of the presence of silicon (highly hydrophobic polymer). Moreover, this residue must be treated as a special waste i.e. burned with the obvious environmental impact in terms of energy consumption and pollution due to fumes and solid residues in the recovery boilers. If unfortunately silicone liner could be not recovered, it is left as such which induces environmental problems related to its extremely low biodegradability. The main objective of this investigation is to prepare innovative silicone liner-free pressure sensitive adhesives. The elimination of this protective layer can be achieved by the 'self protection' of the adhesive, thanks to its incorporation into microcapsules. This allows the preparation of 'Dry labels' gluing under the application of a pressure which induces the breakage of their shells, thus releasing the core material, i.e., the pressure sensitive adhesive. This project intends to study the scientific and technological breakthrough in this field by taking into account all the operation units relative to the manufacture of this 'Green' self adhesive label. It will focus on the pressure sensitive adhesive formulation, the design of the shell of the micro-capsule, the study of the recyclable character of these innovative labels after final use. Moreover, this project will privilege the use of natural materials and will propose new breakthrough solutions in order to propose alternatives to the existing techniques and materials in the field of self adhesive labels manufacturing. Indeed, the solutions suggested will permit the production of this type of labels calling upon the use of single production chains. The industrial applicability of the project will also be studied, following the next key steps: The manufacture of 'Green labels' which can be recycled, The reduction of silicone paper consumption, Energy saving on the level of 'non production' of this silicone paper, Energy saving on the level of the incineration of this special waste. A direct reduction in pollution by using less silicone liner to protect pressure sensitive labels. To conclude this objective, a consortium of complementary partners was created. It is constituted by 3 industrial partners and 2 government research laboratories.