Gunze Limited announced that it has launched "GEOPLAS HCX1 23 Micron", the lightest hybrid shrink film in Japan, which has now been adopted for use in PET bottled beverages sold by DyDo DRINCO. Gunze continues to promote the use of Japan's lightest shrink film in the market and to increase the proportion of recycled materials, aiming to realize a recycling-oriented society by reducing the amount of plastic used and effectively utilizing resources. This will be used for the production of "Luxury fragrance iced black tea" in July.

There are also plans to expand this to "Luxury fragrance iced green tea". The product is a polystyrene/polyethylene terephthalate multilayer product using unique multilayer oriented film technology. It is widely used worldwide as shrink labels for PET bottled beverages, food, cosmetics, home & personal care products and other products.

The product has both polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate advantages such as excellent shrink appearance, perforation suitability, heat resistance, content resistance and stiffness. Product features: Label weight: Lightest weight shrink film for automatic sleeve applicators in Japan (Approximately 10% lighter than the lightest conventional film). Shrinkability: Good shrinkability.

Maximum shrink of 70%, suitable for complex-shaped bottles. Perforability: Good perforability and Easy to peel along the perforation line. Use of recycled materials: Approximately 1% of the printing waste generated by converters is recycled, and at least 5% of the raw materials are chemically recycled using the mass balance method.

Phase 1 In-house post-industrial recycling: Gunze has transformed its Moriyama Plant, which manufactures shrink film and other products, into a zero-emission plant that produces no plastic waste. The Moriyama Plant is expected to achieve zero waste by the end of FY2024. Phase 2: Off-site post-industrial recycling.

The GEOPLAS® HCX1 now being offered contains film made from collected post-printing waste generated by sister converting company, Gunze Packaging Systems. And the company intends to expand this initiative to other manufacturing facilities such as converters and PET bottled beverages in the near future. Phase 3 Post-Consumer Recycling: The company will contribute to a resource-recycling society by collecting post-consumer labels from the market and using them as raw materials for film production. The company will gradually increase the recycling rate, aiming to achieve 100% recycling rate by 2030.

The company will also expand thick product line and promote its development in the food and toiletries markets.