FINAT has announced a series of webinars designed to present the latest independent label industry knowledge and topics relevant to the future of the industry. The webinars are intended to offer a convenient tool at members’ fingertips to brief them on management, technology and sustainability developments that may impact their business in the near future.

The FINAT Board’s “New Converting Technology” taskforce is driving the webinar program and works closely with FINAT’s Young Managers Club. This group also regularly organizes business webinars specifically for young managers in the label industry, with the next ones scheduled for June and October.

The 2015 Technology Webinar Series follows a FINAT webinar from the end of last year on the future of printed electronics. “Proactive knowledge sharing and supporting our members, as well as the industry in general on technologies, trends and challenges, is an ongoing focus for FINAT, as innovation continues apace,” says Kurt Walker, FINAT president. “The webinar last year proved so successful that we felt members would benefit from more. On closer investigation, three topics stood out.”

FINAT has also announced the launch of the second FINAT Recycling Awards Competition. Companies that have their paper and/or film release liners recycled are invited to apply for nomination in two award categories: self-adhesive label end users and self-adhesive label converters. The deadline for submitting entries is May 22, 2015, and the competition will culminate in the announcement of the winners at the European Label Forum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, held from June 11-13.

The goal of the FINAT Recycling Awards Competition is to raise awareness for the growing number of sustainable and economically-viable recycling programs. These offer companies site-specific solutions for the collection and recycling of used release liners, allowing
them to reduce both their carbon footprint and landfilling costs.

“We were delighted by the large number of good entries to our first Recycling Awards Competition last year,” says Jacques van Leeuwen, chairman of the FINAT Recycling Awards Competition. “We are looking forward to continue this success and see new examples of how the industry is rising to the challenge and embracing the available recycling solutions.”

Release liner recycling contributes to the reduction of the footprint of a label company, FMCG brand or private label, which is becoming ever more essential because of the growing emphasis on corporations’ responsibility towards society and the planet.