MX2008005214A - Polypropylene films employing recycled commercially used polypropylene based films and labels - Google Patents

Abstract

A multilayer film includes a core layer having recycled, commercially used plastic therein and opposed skin layers, at least one of said opposed skin layers including a whitening agent or other pigmenting agent therein to mask any undesired coloration created by the recycled plastic. Laminations employing the above multilayer film also form part of this invention. A method of this invention for making a multilayer film including a core layer with recycled plastic therein includes the steps of:separating a plastic film or label from a package of commercial product;pelletizing the plastic film or label into pellets for introduction into an extruder of a film forming device and introducing the pelletized plastic film or label into said extruder for introducing the recycled plastic film or label pellets into a core layer of a multilayer film.

Description

POLYPROPYLENE FILMS USING COMMERCIALLY USED RECYCLED POLYPROPYLENE FILMS AND LABELS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to the use of post-converted, recycled polypropylene-based products, eg, flexible packaging and printed labels and also bottle caps of plastic in films based on polypropylene. BACKGROUND TECHNIQUE It is known to recycle waste material generated in a film-forming extrusion process back into the extruder to thereby effectively utilize the cut material in the formation of extruded polypropylene film from which the waste material is removed. gender. For example, the trimming material generated in the film-forming process has been introduced into the extruder in a conventional tensioning line to thereby incorporate the trimming into the core layer of a multilayer, extruded film, which is preferably oriented in a biaxial as part of the training process. European publication No. 0470 760, published on February 12, 1992, discloses a composite plastic film that includes layers of internal core and outer coating. The film is specifically described as being suitable for use as paper synthetic. In the sentence beginning on line 20 on page 4, it is established that if at least the major polymer components in the core and outer layers are similar, the process economy can be improved Val allow the reprocessing of the material of reclaimed trim, for example-the edge cuts of sheet, in, for example the composition of the core layer. "The publication" 760"also discloses the use of a pigment / filler in the outer layers to improve the grip on the film. during the stretching operation US Patent 6,117,506, issued to Grabowski, discloses a bottle structure in which the outer wall is formed of three layers.Each of the layers includes a colorant, the middle layer includes a generally black opaque coloration to block most of the light, and the coloration of the inner and outer layers provides a generally white opaque coloration to hide the discoloration n egra of the intermediate layer. European application No. 1310357, published on May 14, 2003, discloses the formation of a multi-layered biaxially oriented multi-layer pearly synthetic paper label (three layers) used to mold integrally with a bottle in the mold. While this patent discloses that it is known to use titanium oxide in an outer layer of the film, there is no disclosure to include the material recovered in a core of the film; still less include the material recovered from a post-converted product stream including inks and adhesive therein, eg, flexible packaging and labels, or a stream of multicolored plastic bottle caps that include multiple polymers. Young and collaborators American patent No. ,859,071 discloses the recycling of carpet trim that • includes more than one polymeric material by first processing the carpet cut into pellets and then using the pellets in commercially formed products. The specific product identified in the examples is an injection molded product. The patent? 071 of Young et al. Does not disclose including any material recovered in a core of an extruded film. Su et al. No. 5,286,424 discloses the use of recycled polyolefin material from a source having a chlorine-containing polymer therein, such as polyvinylidene chloride. The major portion of the invention disclosed relates to the techniques for separating the chlorine-containing polymer from the remaining components prior to the recycling of the remaining components. Although there is a general disclosure that the recycled material can be included in the films, there is no specific disclosure as to where the recycled material should be introduced in the movies. In fact, there is no disclosure that films are multilayer structures that include opposing inner core and facing layers. Accordingly, there is no disclosure to include the recovered material in a core layer of any film; less still including a core layer of material recovered from a post-converted product stream including inks and adhesive therein, eg, flexible packaging and labels, or a stream of multicolored plastic bottle caps that include multiple polymers. Burns et al. 'North American Patent No.

No. 6,534,189 discloses a uniaxially shrinkable axially oriented polypropylene film and a method for the use of the film as on tobacco pack wrapper. In the paragraph joining columns 5 and 6, the inventors generally state that the core layer of the film can include recycled polypropylene (RPP). There is no specific disclosure regarding the type or source of the polypropylene that is proposed to be recycled, as to whether the recycled polypropylene creates a coloration problem, and as such the outer layers must include titanium dioxide in it to hide any problem of discoloration. On the other hand, there is no disclosure of including, or employing, material recovered from a post-converted product stream that includes inks and adhesives in it, eg, flexible packaging and labels, or a stream of multicolored plastic bottle caps that include multiple polymers. In an American Chemistry Council publication, entitled Plastic Reins Resins, which can be obtained at americanchemistry.com, caps and closures for polypropylene bottles are identified by resin code 5 and specific that such bottle caps and closures are recyclable at a variety of molded products, for example, battery boxes, signal lights, battery cables, brooms and brushes, and so on. This article simply identifies possible uses of recycled polypropylene in products, and does not disclose the inclusion of any material recovered in a core of any film; still less includes material recovered from a post-converted product stream including inks and adhesives therein, eg, packaging and flexible labels or a stream of multicolored plastic bottle caps that include multiple polymers. In an article identified on the website "www. fixingtheplanet.com / what-can-and-cant-go-your-recycling-bin" various plastics are identified as being recyclable. In the section titled "Plastic # 5: Polypropilene (PP)" on page 2, an initial use of this plastic in forming bottle caps is disclosed. Without However, this section states that recycling centers almost never take plastic from number 5. This section also identifies a number of recycled products that can be made from number 5 plastics, all of which are presented to make molded products, ie , signal lights, battery cables, plates and utensils, shavers, brooms, brushes, auto battery boxes, ice scrapers, gardening edges, bicycle racks, rakes, containers, pallets and trays. There is no disclosure of including material recovered in a film, let alone including in a core layer of a multilayer film a material recovered from a stream of post-converted product including inks and adhesives therein, eg, packaging and flexible labels , or a stream of multicolored plastic bottle caps that include multiple polymers. In an article that appears at www.idctsr.com/services-6.htm, the section entitled "Plastic # 5 Polypropylene (PP)" discloses that bottle caps are a common use for this polymer. On the other hand, although the statement that has been difficult to find in the recycling of this material, the article states that these recycling statistics have been improved due to their use in car batteries. There is no disclosure of including material recovered in a film, let alone include in a core layer of a multilayer film a material recovered from a post-converted product stream that includes inks and adhesive therein, eg, flexible packaging and labels, or a stream of multicolored plastic bottle caps that include multiple polymers. document identified in "wwwalibaba.com/catalog/100197055/Recycle_PP_HDPE.html" states that recycled PP plus HDPE are made from caps and labels for mixed-color PET bottles. However, there is no disclosure as to where this recycled material is used. In an article identified in "www.alibaba.com/catalog/100101138/Recycled_PP_Pellets.html" it is established that the recycled PP of wool bags can be processed into pellets. There is no disclosure to include these pellets of recovered material in any film; less still include in a core layer of a multilayer film of material recovered from a stream of post-converted product including inks and adhesive therein, eg, packaging and flexible labels, or from a stream of plastic bottle lids multi-colored polymers that are known in the prior art to separate polypropylene-based labels from their commercially used PET food and beverage containers prior to recycling the containers to recover the PET for subsequent use in other plastic products. In relation to this recycling process, the polypropylene-based labels that are separated in PET plastic containers are generally disposed by incineration, when transported to landfills or when used in low quality molding applications. To the knowledge of the applicants, there has been no suggestion to recycle in any film, let alone in the core layer of a multilayer film, the material recovered from a post-converted product stream that includes inks and adhesive therein, for example, packaging and flexible labels, or a stream of multicolored plastic bottle caps, which include multiple polymers. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The applicant has discovered products and processes in which the material recovered from a stream of post-converted products including inks, whether with or without an adhesive in the post-converted products, for example, packaging and flexible labels , and / or a stream of multicolored plastic bottle caps that include multiple polymers therein can be recycled into opaque OOP plastic films, although inks, adhesives and multicolored plastics provide Normally an undesirable visual appearance to the plastic films after they are mixed in the recycling processes. A multilayer film according to this invention includes a core layer and opposed facing layers, the core comprising the material recovered from the group consisting of a post-converted plastic product stream includes inks with or without an adhesive in the product of post-converted plastic, and a stream of multicolored plastic bottle caps includes multiple polymers therein, at least one of the opposite coating layers that are sufficiently opaque to hide any undesired coloration created by the recovered material. In a preferred embodiment of this invention, at least one of the opposed facing layers of a multilayer film of this invention is sufficiently opaque to hide any undesired coloration created by the recovered material. include a bleaching agent or other pigmenting agent in it. In another preferred embodiment, at least one of the opposed facing layers of a multilayer film of this invention is sufficiently opaque to hide any undesired coloration created by the recovered material by being a metal coating layer.

Packaging films and / or flexible, post-converted labels that include printing inks with or without adhesives thereon can be used as recovered material either prior to commercial use or after commercial use. At present, the much more common source of packaging and flexible labels is a post-converted product prior to being used commercially. Films much more commonly used as claimed are polyolefin films that are predominantly polypropylene, but may include other polymers such as polyethylene and polybutylene. Bottle caps may include a variety of polymers and are typically formed of either polypropylene or polyethylene. If the cap includes a coating to provide additional barrier properties to the common coating it is EVA (ethyl vinyl acetate copolymer). These bottle caps are much more commonly used as recovered material after commercial use in connection with bottles. Since bottle caps are not separated by composition and / or color, a stream of bottle caps includes caps of a variety of colors and at least three different polymers, for example, polypropylene, polyethylene and ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers . Of course other polymers can be included in the caps, and can also be for or replace II one or more of the polymers listed above. In the much more preferred embodiments of this invention, the material recovered from a stream of post-converted products including inks and, in some cases adhesives therein, for example, flexible packaging and labels, or a stream of bottle caps. multicolored plastic that include multiple Polymers in them are used as part of the composition of the core layer of a multilayer opaque OPP film. The labels included in the stream of recycled material can be collected as cut-outs or second quality material subsequent to the label manufacturing process, or the labels can be separated from plastic bottles, preferably PET bottles, as part of a recycling process of typical container. In all cases, the recovered material is milled and the molten material pellets are extruded for inclusion in at least the core layer of an opaque, multilayer film. Streams of material recovered according to this invention are recycled into extruded pellets using standard film re-extrusion processing techniques. For example, bales of flexible packaging material or labeling material including inks, either with or without an adhesive in the product and / or multicolored plastic bottle caps that include multiple polymers therein are fed into a granulator where large sheets of recycled material are reduced in flake size. These flakes are then processed through an intensifier to produce pellets compressed from an undisclosed film. The pellets are fed into an extruder that is equipped with a vacuum vent. Commercial processing aids such as ML1803, a polyethylene calcium oxide compound, which is manufactured by LL Plastics GmbH, can also be used. Finally, the molten material is pumped through a fine mesh filter and into a standard underwater pelletizer. In some cases the product is directed through a fine mesh filter prior to vacuum ventilation. In fact, although the use of an extruder with a vacuum vent is preferred, when the bottle tops having limited volatile components are being processed in the pellets it may not be necessary to employ a vacuum vent. A typical OOP label feed material that is recycled in accordance with this invention is a laminated structure including, for example, a multilayer hollow opaque film such as AET 's 400 T / L II and a multilayer clear film such as AET' s 48 B503-2, with localized printing ink and laminating adhesive between the opaque and clear films and with the inks that are visible through the clear film. The commercially available single layer or laminated flexible packaging or label structures that are recycled according to this invention may consist of clear, opaque, metallized or coated films and may be one or more films, in combination with or without bottle caps of multicolored plastic that include multiple polymers in them. For some applications or products it may not be possible or desirable to recycle material that was previously metallized, since the metal content may not be acceptable for use in such applications or products. However, within the broad scope of this invention, recycled flexible packaging or label structures may include metallized films in the blend. The extrusion of molten melt pellets can take place either at the manufacturing site of the opaque, multilayer OPP films or at a remote site. Much more preferably, the resulting multilayer opaque film itself has a wide variety of applications, including use as labels, signs, labels, brochures, posters, etc. In accordance with this invention a variety of structures and compositions employed in applications of Packaging and flexible commercial OPP labels can be recycled, including structures based on, but not limited to clear, white, metallic or coated films. Streams of packaging structures and reclaimed flexible labels must often include inks, lacquers, coatings, and adhesives, which have been generally considered undesirable for use as recycled material in plastic film structure, particularly when a gray tint or shade is unacceptable Excluded from use as a recovered material within the scope of this invention are OPP films or labels that employ homopolymer and / or polyvinylidene chloride copolymer coatings Specifically, polyvinylidene chloride is not compatible with films based on polypropylene in which plastic films or labels are proposed to be recycled To remove polyvinylidene chloride from films or plastic labels prior to recycling it must be undesirably costly and therefore economically unfeasible. packaging and etiquette Flexible products based on post-converted OPP film and / or used as recycled materials in a recently produced OPP film are numerous. HE it contemplates that the total economic for a process that uses packaging and recycled flexible labels would operate at a reduced material cost compared to the use of all new materials. The other benefit for the use of packaging and flexible labels based on recycled OPP film as part of the composition of newly produced OPP films are the environmental benefits of a perspective lifecycle and increased recycling sustainability. The same benefits of using packaging and flexible labels based on post-converted OPP film and / or used as recycled materials, as described above, are obtained by using both recovered material and multicolored plastic stage streams that include multiple polymers in the same. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the material recovered from a post-converted product stream that includes inks with or without adhesives in the post-converted product, for example, packaging and flexible labels made of polypropylene films ( biaxially or uniaxially oriented), and / or of a stream of multicolored plastic bottle caps that include multiple polymers therein are collected and then converted by melt extrusion into pellets. The pellets are then introduced into an extruder for incorporation into the core layer of a new opaque, multilayer plastic film, either uniaxially oriented or biaxially oriented. The pelletizing operation can take place either at the manufacturing site where the opaque plastic film is extruded, or it can take place at a remote site. In the latter case, the pellets, after the formation, will be transported to the manufacturing site for use in the manufacturing in the opaque plastic film. In the embodiments of this invention in which the plastic is recycled is in the form of label feedstock including inks, and sometimes adhesives therein, such as label feedstock can be obtained prior to commercial use or of packaging, or alternatively, labels can be separated from commercial packages, such as PET bottles, after commercial use of the packages. The discussion that follows will sometimes be directed only to the use of label feeding material as the recovered material. However, it should be understood that, unless stated otherwise, the disputed use of the labels as a claim material also applies to the use of flexible packaging films and bottle caps, as defined above. The new oriented movies made with the recycled label feed material of this invention are opaque OPP film structures which may include an extruded, multilayer, single film or lamination of two or more multi-layer extruded films. The multilayer recycled opaque OPP films can be 2, 3, 5 or more layers produced by coextrusion, extrusion coating, coating or metallization. Much more preferably, each extruded film is a multilayer structure including hollow outer opposed core and facing layers, with the facing layers being preferably substantially thinner than the core layer. Much more preferably the recycled label feed material, in pellet form, is introduced only in the core layer of the multilayer film. According to the preferred embodiments of this invention, the core layer of the film can be 100% recycled OPP label feeding material or a mixture of between 5-100% recycled OPP label material combined with resin from virgin or non-recycled polypropylene. In the much more preferred embodiments the core is hollowed out with any of the well-known void-forming agents, such as calcium carbonate or one or more of the well-known organic void forming agents, such as polybutylene terephthalate. Although the core layer is Hollow, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of this invention, is within the scope of this invention to form a non-recessed core layer with the use of recycled oriented polypropylene label feed material. It is extremely important that one or more of the exterior exposed coating layers be sufficiently opaque to conceal any visual effect desired to create the recycled material. According to one aspect of this invention the required opacity is obtained by including a wetting agent, such as titanium oxide, zinc oxide or various sulfate, or other pigmenting agent, for example, carbon black or other coloring agent. , in one or more outer response coating layers. According to another aspect of this invention, the required opacity can be obtained by forming the one or more outer exposed coating layers as a metal layer. In the much more preferred embodiment, one or more of the outer co-extruded coating layer (s) is preferably (are) provided by the predominant virgin polypropylene resin and are pigmented, preferably with a white or white pigment. another coloring agent, to hide the gray color that is generally imparted to the core by the recycled OPP label feed material. The resulting multilayer film can be a coextruded film of three or five layers and can be coated, coated by extrusion or metallized. It should be understood that when the structures of this invention are laminated from two or more contiguous multilayer film structures, the internal coating layers that are laminated together need not be metal layers and do not need to include a bleaching agent or another. pigment wherein they hide any discoloration of the recovered material because these adjacent coating layers are hidden layers of the completed film. However, it is highly desirable that one or more of the outer exposed coating layers of the multilayer films be opaque, either by being a metal layer or by including a bleaching agent or other pigmenting agent so that any unwanted color may occur. created by the inclusion of recycled matter-1 in the core of the film will be hidden. Much more preferably the polymer of the core layer of the multilayer film (s) of this invention is polypropylene, specifically isotactic (crystalline) polypropylene. The term "polypropylene" includes both homopolymers and propylene copolymers of predominantly propylene with ethylene or other al-olefin. Preferred copolymers are crystalline random copolymers of propylene and about 1 to 10% ethylene; more preferably about 1 to 6% of ethylene and even more preferably approximately 1 to 4% ethylene. The reference to "propylene homopolymer" includes, in addition to pure homopolymers, mini-random copolymers of propylene including less than 1% ethylene and more preferably 0-6% ethylene. The Applicant has recognized in recycling the label structures in an opaque multilayer oriented polypropylene film, the undesired gray color or hue that would otherwise be created by the recycled label feed material is avoided. This benefit is much more preferably achieved in an opaque multilayer oriented polypropylene film having a hollow core and a reasonably heavy titanium dioxide or other bleaching agent filler in one or more of the opposite outer coating layers. For example, the opposing outer surfaces of the opaque multilayer films of this invention can be coated with a matte acrylic-clay coating; which preferably has a thickness of approximately 8 gauge. This matte acrylic-clay coating provides a surface that is capable of being printed in a variety of ways that may not be employed on uncoated surfaces. Other coatings for improved printing performance can also be used in accordance with the present invention. The packaging feed material or flexible label based on 'converted OPP film, either as a cut or recovered from a post-consumer recycling process, and / or caps for multicolored plastic bottles that include multiple polymers in them are recycled into extruded pellets using processing techniques of standard film extrusion. For example, bulks of packaging feedstock or flexible labels and / or caps for bottles are fed, either separately or together, in a granulator in which the recycled material is reduced in size to flakes of approximately 1/8 to 1 / 4 in2. These flakes can be processed through a densifier to produce compressed pellets of non-melted film. The heat generated in this process is a first important step in reducing the volatile materials of the inks and, when used, adhesives in the film feed material and clipping packaging label. This may not be important in the formation of pellets of caps for bottles, which do not generally include significant volatiles. The pellets are fed into an extruder which is equipped with a vacuum vent and a molten material filter. Vacuum venting of the extruder is very desirable to further reduce the volatiles of the inks and adhesives, when used, as well as moisture and air caught in the feed. A commercial processing aid, such as ML1803, a calcium oxide compound in polyethylene, which is manufactured by ML 'Plastics GmbH, can be fed with trimming at a level of 3% by weight, to help reduce volatiles by the chemical reaction. Finally, the molten material is pumped through a fine mesh filter and into a standard underwater pelletizer. However, in an extruder employing a vacuum ventilation system it may be desirable to employ the fine mesh filter prior to or upstream of the ventilation system. The extrusion conditions and standard processing aids can be modified as needed to minimize gaps within the final pellets. The final pellets are then dried and the volatile levels of < 0.5% are measured. The recycled and extruded pellets are added to the core layer through a premixed mixture or through the use of an automated in-line mixing system that is fed into the core layer of the extruder. The coextruded layers are fed separately and do not contain the recycled extruded pellets. In an exemplary but not limiting embodiment of this invention pellets are formed from a mixture including approximately 40% recycled material and approximately 60% virgin polypropylene. However, the highest recycling percentages they can be used in this invention. A representative OPP label feeding material that is recycled according to this invention is a laminated structure including, for example, a multilayer hollow opaque film such as AET 's 400 T / L and a multilayer clear film such as AET' s 48 B503-2, with the printing ink and laminating adhesive located between the opaque and clear films and with the inks that are visible through the clear film. The AET films are made by Applied Etrusion Technologies, Inc., which have corporate offices in New Castle Delaware, U.S. A. The commercially used single layer or flexible packaging structures or laminated labels may consist of clear, opaque, metallized or coated films and may be one or more films in combination. Example 1 (3-layer co-extrusion) In a representative embodiment of this invention, a three-layer opaque film was produced by a typical biaxial orientation tensor process which is well known. This example includes a core layer comprising 68%, by weight, of a polypropylene mini-random copolymer which includes 0.6% ethylene, 22%, by weight of a batch formulation including 62.5% calcium carbonate, 29.4% propylene homopolymer and 7.5% dioxide of titanium and 10% by weight, of recycled, printed labels collected as cut-out from a label printing and lamination process. This OPP film-based cutout, which included both inks and printing adhesives, was formed into extruded pellets which were introduced into the barrel of the extruder used to form the core layer of this example. The recycled pellets also contain 3% ML 1803 manufactured by Plastics, which is used as a process aid for the effective extrusion of printed labels on extruded pellets. A description of the recycled label extrusion process is detailed as example 5. Each of the outer opposed facing layers of this example was 18 gauge and included a master batch identified as WP814, manufactured by Washington Penn Plastics of Washington, PA . This masterbatch WP 814 includes 79.9%, by weight, of polypropylene mini-random copolymer which includes 0.6% by weight of ethylene therein and 20% titanium dioxide. The multilayer opaque film described in this invention was produced by the well-known biaxial orientation tensor process. For example, the polypropylene core resin and associated additives were melted at 250 ° C and the co-extruded layers were melted and extruded at 210 ° C. The three-layer coextruded molten material is Extruded through a flat mold into a flat sheet in thickness of ~ 8500 caliber on a polished and cooled draining drum, revolving at 60 ° C. The cast sheet was then oriented and then oriented 5.3 times in the machine direction (MD) using a four-roll machine direction orientation with an orientation temperature of 138 ° C and subsequently oriented 10.3 times in the direction crosswise in the tension furnace at an oven orientation temperature of 160 ° C. The film was then treated on the surface on both sides by corona treatment at a level of 40 dynes. The resulting film was wound on a roll. The film properties are listed in Table 1. All film properties were measured by standard test methods. Opacity was determined by ASMT D589 and the bleaching index was determined by ASTM E313. The recycled and extruded pellets were added to the core layer through a pre-blended mixture, which is fed into the core layer of the extruder. The co-extruded layers are fed separately and do not contain recycled extruded pellets. Comparative Example 2 (3-layer co-extrusion) In a comparative example of this invention, a 3-layer opaque film was produced by the process tensor biaxial orientation. This example included a core layer comprising 75%, by weight, of a polypropylene polypropylene mini-random copolymer including 0.6% ethylene and 25%, by weight, of a batch formulation including 62.5% calcium carbonate, 29.4% polypropylene homopolymer and 7.5% titanium dioxide. Each of the outer opposed facing layers in this example was 18 gauge and included a masterbatch identified as WP 814, manufactured by Washington Penn Plastics of Washington, PA. This masterbatch WP 814 includes 79.9%, by weight, of polypropylene mini-random copolymer which includes 0.6% by weight of ethylene therein and 20% titanium dioxide. The multilayer opaque film described in this comparative example was produced by the well-known biaxial orientation tensor process. For example, the polypropylene core resin and associated additives were melted and extruded at 250 ° C and the coextruded layers were melted and extruded at 210 ° C. The three layer coextrusion melt was extruded through a flat mold into a flat sheet in thickness of ~ 8500 caliber on a revolving polished and cooled drum at 60 ° C. The cast sheet was then oriented 5.3 times in the machine direction (MD) using a four-roll serial machine direction orientation with a temperature of orientation of 138 ° C and was subsequently oriented 10.3 times in the transverse direction (TD) in the tension furnace at an oven orientation temperature of 169 ° C. The film was then treated on the surface on both sides by corona treatment at a level of 40 dynes. The resulting film was wound on a roll. The film properties are listed in Table 1. All film properties were measured by standard test methods. Opacity is determined by ASMT D589 and the bleaching index is determined by ASTM E313. This example is representative of a typical oriented white polypropylene film without either converted, recycled flexible packaging or label structures including inks and adhesives therein, or multicolored bottle caps that include multiple polymers therein that are used in the composition of the nucleus. Table of the film data for Examples 1 & 2 Example 1 Example 2 Thickness (caliber 321 350 approximate) Performance 14,688 13,612 (in2 / lb) Density (gm / cc) 0.59 0.57 Opacity Tappi (%) 98 95 Bleaching index 67 90 Resistance to 8.8 / 16.7 9.2 / 16.7 Voltage, MD / DT (kpsi) Elongation, MD / TD 93/27 113/30 (%) Example in Line 3 - Lamination of two folds In another representative embodiment of this invention, the film of Example 1 was used to produce a two-film component lamination structure in combination with the three-layer OPP coextruded film AET's 400 WHSL. In this example, the film of Example 1 was laminated to the n side? printed / non-white film 400 WHSL to produce a component film lamination structure of two films. In this example, one of the outer coextruded layers consists of white pigmented formulations of Example 1 and a white layer is of the 400 WHSL film. The 400 WHSL film is designed as being laminated to the "IN" side of the lamination structure. The AET's 400 WHSL film is a three-layer coextruded film with a recessed core and a white pigmented print coating. This product is approximately 125 gauge in thickness, has a yield of 40,000 in2 / lb, a density of 0.55, a Tappi opacity of 84 and a whitening index of 86. The lamination step is carried out by employing any suitable adhesive, such as an acrylic-based adhesive, such adhesives that are well known to those skilled in the art. Thus, in the laminate structure described above, the outer coating layers include both 10% titanium dioxide and the bleaching agent to hide the otherwise gray appearance that would be imparted to the film by the recycled label feed material. . Example 4 - Three-fold Lamination In another representative embodiment of this invention, a film of Example 1 was used to produce a three-film component lamination structure with two of the three-layer OPP coextruded films AET's 400 WHSL. In this example, 400 WHSL on each side of Example 1 to produce one. component film structure of three films. In this example, both outer coextruded layers consist of white pigmented formulations of the 400 WHSL film. The laminating step is carried out by employing any suitable adhesive, such as an acrylic-based adhesive; such adhesives that are well known to those skilled in the art. Thus, in the laminated structure described in the above, the coating layers exteriors include both 10% titanium dioxide and the bleaching agent to hide the otherwise gray appearance that would be imparted to the film by the recycled label feed material. Lamination data table 'for Examples 3 & 4 Example 3 Example 4 Thickness (gauge 420 540. approximate) Yield 10,680 8,155 (in2 / lb) Density (gm / cc) 0.62 '0.63- Opacity Tappi (%) 97 98 Bleaching index, 84/67 85/85 Inside / Outside Example 5 Description of Labels and Covers for Recycled Bottles Through the Extruded Pellet Forming Process Caps for converted OPP label bottles and feed material were recycled using standard film re-extrusion processing techniques. Bales of label feedstock, as described above, or blended lids were fed into a granulator where large sheets of feedstock and lids were reduced in size to flakes of approximately 1/8 to 1/4 in2. These leaflets were then processed through of a densifier to produce pellets compressed from an unmelted film; however, this densification process may not be required when the stream of trim material is only bottle caps. The heat generated is a first important step in reducing the volatiles of the inks and adhesives, when they are used, the feed material, but it may not be necessary when processing caps for bottles that have a minimum level of volatiles in them. The pellets were fed into an extruder which was equipped with a vacuum vent and a fusing filter. The vacuum ventilation of the extruder is very important to further reduce the volatiles of the inks and adhesives, when they are used, as well as the moisture and air trapped in the feed. A commercial processing aid called, a polyethylene calcium oxide compound, which is manufactured by ML Pastics GmbH, can be fed with the cut at a level of 3% by weight, to assist in reducing the volatiles by the chemical reaction. Finally, the molten material can be pumped through a fine mesh filter and into a standard underwater pelletizer. The extrusion conditions can be modified as needed to minimize gaps within the final pellets. The final pellets are then dried and the volatile levels of < 0.5% It should be noted that the filtering stage can be carried out before the vacuum ventilation operation. A representative OPP label feeding material that was recycled in this example was a laminated structure that includes an opaque multilayer recessed OPP film that was AET's 400 WT / L II and a clear multilayer OPP film that was ART's 48 B503 -2, with the printing ink and the lamination adhesive that are between the opaque and clear films and with the ink that is visible through the clear film. Although illustrated and described herein with reference to certain specific embodiments, the present invention is not however intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications can be made to the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims (20)

1. CLAIMS 1. A multilayer film, characterized in that it includes a core layer and opposite facing layers, the core layer comprising material recovered from the group consisting of a stream of post-converted plastic product including inks, with or without a adhesive in the product and a stream of multi-colored plastic bottle caps that includes multiple polymers therein, at least one of the opposite coating layers that are sufficiently opaque to conceal any undesired coloration created by the recovered material.
2. 2. The multilayer film according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the opposing coating layers includes a bleaching agent or other pigmenting agent thereon to provide desired opacity.
3. 3. The multilayer film according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the opposite coating layers is a metal layer to provide desired opacity.
4. 4. The multilayer film according to claim 1, characterized in that the post-converted plastic product including inks, with or without an adhesive in the product, includes flexible packaging and / or labels.
5. 5. The multilayer film according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes three or more layers produced with coextrusion, extrusion coating, coating or metallization.
6. 6. An individual multilayer film or laminations of films with one or more films containing recovered material, characterized in that the recovered material is from the group consisting of a stream of post-converted plastic product including inks, with or without adhesive in the product, and a stream of multicolored plastic bottle caps that include multiple polymers therein.
7. 7. The multilayer film according to claim 1, characterized in that the recovered material includes labels that are predominantly polypropylene.
8. 8. The multilayer film according to claim 1, characterized in that the film is predominantly polypropylene.
9. 9. The multilayer film according to claim 1, characterized in that the outer, visible coating layers include a bleaching agent or other pigmenting agent thereon.
10. The multilayer film according to claim 1, characterized in that the visible, outer coating layers are metal layers.
11. 11. A method for making a multilayer film including a core layer with recycled plastic therein, the method characterized in that it includes the steps of: a. separating a film or plastic label from a package or commercial product; b. forming the film or plastic label into pellets for introduction into a extruder of a film-forming device; c. introduce the pellets into the extruder to introduce the pellets into the core layer.
12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the package is a PET bottle, which also includes the step of recycling PET from the bottle for use in other plastic products.
13. 13. A lamination of plastic films, characterized in that it comprises two or more films, one of the films which is the multilayer film according to claim 1 and another of the films comprising a commercial plastic film.
14. 14. The multilayer film according to claim 1, characterized in that the film is an opaque film that. includes a void-forming agent in the core layer and a white pigment additive in one or more outer layers. .
15. 15. The multilayer film in accordance with the claim 14, characterized in that the void forming agent in the core layer is calcium carbonate or polybutylene terephthalate and the outer layer bleaching agent is titanium dioxide.
16. 16. The process according to claim 11, characterized in that the step of pelletizing the flexible film or the label includes the step of using a vacuum ventilation extruder.
17. The process according to claim 11, characterized in that the step of pelletizing the recycled flexible film or label includes the step of using a processing aid.
18. 18. The process according to claim 18, characterized in that the processing aid includes calcium oxide.
19. 19. The multilayer film according to claim 1, characterized in that the recovered material comprises covers for multicolored bottles that include multiple polymers therein.
20. 20. The multilayer film according to claim 1, characterized in that the film is an opaque film that includes a void-forming agent in the core layer and at least one of the coating layers that is a. metal layer.