• Title/Summary/Keyword: Recycle process

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A Survey on Consumer Perception on Removability of PET Bottle Labels (PET병 라벨의 분리용이성에 대한 소비자의 인식 및 실태 조사)

  • Kang, Wook Geon;Kim, Jongkyoung
    • KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.63-70
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    • 2021
  • As the government strengthens its policy of separating and discharging packaging materials, consumers are increasingly dissatisfied. In order to increase consumer participation in separate discharge policy of packaging materials, it is necessary to increase the willingness to participate by reducing potential consumer problems such as removal of packaging labels. This study conducted a survey of 300 consumers aged 14 and over who recycle and discharge directly from their homes. Ninety-nine percent of consumers said PET bottles are released separately. However, only 65% of consumers removed labels (attachment labels, shrink labels) and other materials (caps, vinyl coatings, tapes, handles, bases, etc.) during separate discharge process. Nearly 52% of consumers cited 'difficulty of separation' as the main reason for not removing labels and other materials. One-way ANOVA analysis showed that 'strong adhesion', 'removal initiation problem' and 'material strength' had high mean regardless of age, which are major factors impedes label removal. Using shrink labels with perforated lines rather than adhesive labels would be more beneficial to encouraging participation in separate discharge. However, if the shrink labels do not have perforated lines or are difficult to remove, adhesive labels are often easier to remove than shrink labels because of the strong cohesiveness of shrink labels. As a result, how easy it is for consumers to remove the label is more important than technological differences. In order to increase consumer participation in packaging material and label separations, improvements in structural design are needed along with the selection of materials that are easy to separate. This study is meaningful in examining consumer perceptions, deriving problems and suggesting directions for policy improvement.