Repulpable pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes and labels

In recent years, Japan has been witnessing a mounting interest in the recycling of waste paper as a way of protecting the environment. Yet the manufacture of recycled paper has always been subject to the problem of plastic, metal or PE‐laminated paper chips mixing in. Especially the contaminants from adhesive tapes and labels (stickies) have posed a difficult problem for the manufacturers of recycled paper. Therefore, the development of repulpable products substituting for them has long been an earnest desire for the industry. To solve this problem, a comprehensive investigation into the pressure‐sensitive adhesive, the release agent and the base paper has been carried out, and repulpable PSA packaging tapes and labels that are well suited for the manufacture of recycled paper have been successfully developed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.