Looking for a premium finish to reflect its new on-the-go beverage product, U.K.-based The Good Whey Company turned to Eastman Embrace HY copolyester material to use for its labels. These labels — supplied by CCL Label Decorative Sleeves, also based in the U.K. — are used on bottles of Upbeat, a high-protein dairy drink. Embrace HY was selected because the material offers the bottles a soft-to-the touch feel, matte look, 360-degree billboard effect and sustainability benefits.

One reason Eastman Embrace HY copolyester was considered by The Good Whey Company for the Upbeat product is because the recyclability of the bottles was important to the company.

“Eastman Embrace HY copolyester is an innovative sustainable packaging option for brand owners, offering a 30 percent lower density than other copolyesters and requiring less material for the same demand,” says Anthony Sammut, EMEA specification sales and marketing manager, Eastman. “By using Embrace HY for its labels, The Good Whey Company was able to use a custom-designed clear PET bottle — which is recyclable — with a tapered waist, instead of having to use a pigmented bottle with a shrink label.”

The twin perforation on the label enables the end user to tear and remove it. When a label is removed, the bottle can be more readily detected in the recycling stream, increasing the probability the plastic will be used for a new bottle. The product also was made more recyclable on account of the bottle being clear rather than colored PET.

“Working with Eastman Embrace HY and using the twin perforation allowed for an easily and cleanly removable sleeve, therefore encouraging consumers to remove the labels and enhancing the probability the bottle will be recycled without the fear of contamination,” says Jon Cowan, sales director, CCL Label Decorative Sleeves. “These subtle perforations do not detract from the visual excellence the sleeve offers in terms of 360-degree decoration.”

Eastman Embrace HY copolyester is designed to provide products with a distinctive on-the-shelf presence with a wraparound, 360-degree billboard effect that forms tightly around highly contoured containers. The material is naturally white colored, eliminating the need for printed white flood coats. The Good Whey Company also selected Embrace HY because of the material’s matte effect and that it feels soft to the touch.

“The Upbeat packaging requires a premium finish to reflect the high quality of the product inside the bottle, and using Eastman Embrace HY copolyester has allowed us to do just this,” says Susie Hignett, brand manager, The Good Whey Company. 

Upbeat is sold at Tesco Extras and Superstores, Holland & Barrett and at select Waitrose stores and Moto Services in Berkshire, Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire in the U.K.