AVERY DENNISON INTRODUCES A 100% BIODEGRADABLE APPAREL FASTENER

Avery Dennison Corporation Fastener Solutions has launched a tag fastener for the apparel industry that completely degrades within one year of exposure to soil microorganisms, without leaving behind microplastics or harmful substances.

“Plastic fasteners, which attach price tags and other product information to garments, are on 90 percent of the approximately 80 billion garments manufactured each year. That adds up to a whole lot of plastic — the equivalent of the same amount of plastic found in 761,581,156 single-serve 0.5 liter PET water bottles,” said Dan Riendeau, senior marketing manager of global packaging and retail at Avery Dennison Fastener Solutions. “Brand owners and retailers are increasingly seeking ways to reduce their environmental footprint and this product innovation helps do that. As a materials science innovator, we’re excited to grow this product line and offer a solution that is not dependent on consumer recycling behaviors.”

The new bio-PP Fastener is made out of a proprietary blend of polypropylene material specifically designed to biodegrade in less than a year once it is on soil, without leaving behind microplastic or other harmful substances. Comparatively speaking, a regular polypropylene fastener can take anywhere from 20-30 years to breakdown, and, depending on environmental conditions, an everyday plastic bag can take 10-20 years to decompose while also leaving behind adverse microplastics.

Among Avery Dennison’s 2025 Sustainability Goals is a commitment calling for 70 percent of the products Avery Dennison sells to conform to, or enable end products to conform to, the company’s sustainability principles.

Learn more at averydennison.com or contact dan.riendeau@averydennison.com.