Addressing Problematic PET, PETG and PVC Shrink Sleeves on Food and Beverage Bottles

This case study by GreenCape examines the challenge of PET, PETG, and PVC shrink sleeves on PET food and beverage bottles in South Africa. It details how these materials disrupt the PET recycling process and advocates for a transition to floatable polyolefin materials to improve circularity.

• PET, PETG, and PVC shrink sleeves are identified as priority problematic and unnecessary plastics by South African Plastics Pact members, representing the largest share by weight of such items placed on the market in 2024.
• Shrink sleeves made of PET, PETG, and PVC disrupt the recycling of PET bottles because they have similar densities and sink during the sink-float separation process, leading to contamination or the total rejection of technically recyclable bottles.
• Material substitution using floatable polyolefin sleeves, such as polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE), is the most viable near-term solution as they are compatible with existing PET recycling processes via float-sink mechanisms.
• Woolworths transitioned its first product line to PP shrink sleeves in 2023, having previously moved from PVC to PETG before discovering that PETG also disrupted recycling.
• SPUR Corporation began transitioning sauce bottle shrink sleeves to polyolefin materials in 2024, with a goal of complete adoption across its restaurant range by 2025.
• The primary barrier to large-scale adoption of polyolefin sleeves is cost; early adoption by Woolworths saw a price premium of 50% compared to PETG, which has since reduced to approximately 20% as demand scaled.
• Other barriers to adoption include technical requirements such as equipment recalibration, changes to printing plates, or modifications to bottle design, as well as the current lack of local manufacturing facilities for polyolefin shrink labels.

APA

Chitaka, T. (2026). Addressing Problematic PET, PETG and PVC Shrink Sleeves on Food and Beverage Bottles. GreenCape. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Case-Study-Addressing-Problematic-Shrink-Sleeves-on-PET-Bottles-150dpi.pdf

Chicago

Chitaka, Takunda. Addressing Problematic PET, PETG and PVC Shrink Sleeves on Food and Beverage Bottles. GreenCape, 2026. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Case-Study-Addressing-Problematic-Shrink-Sleeves-on-PET-Bottles-150dpi.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chitaka |first1=Takunda |title=Addressing Problematic PET, PETG and PVC Shrink Sleeves on Food and Beverage Bottles |publisher=GreenCape |date=2026 |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Case-Study-Addressing-Problematic-Shrink-Sleeves-on-PET-Bottles-150dpi.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chitaka2026addressing, author = {Chitaka, Takunda}, title = {{Addressing Problematic PET, PETG and PVC Shrink Sleeves on Food and Beverage Bottles}}, institution = {GreenCape}, year = {2026}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Case-Study-Addressing-Problematic-Shrink-Sleeves-on-PET-Bottles-150dpi.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }