Dow Corning has entered a partnership with RecuLiner, a Belgian company responsible for developing a recycling technology for converting paper release liner waste from self-adhesive labels into a range of end products such as insulation material. Release liners serve as a carrier for labels to transfer the label to the final product – and because silicone layers are present on release liners, they become part of the waste stream.

Kris Verschueren, global market segment manager packaging & pressure sensitive industry at Dow Corning, comments, “Coatings for release liners are a very important solution we offer to the pressure sensitive industry. Although we as raw material producers do not generate waste directly, we are conscious that our customer’s customer and their customer beyond are faced with the fact that once the liner has served its purpose, it has to be considered as waste. Dow Corning wants to step up and contribute to the footprint reduction of the self-adhesive labelling industry.”

Founded in 2010, RecuLiner processes paper release liner waste into loose fibres which can then be used in various applications. For thermal insulation purposes, dry fibres can be blown into walls or alternatively sprayed onto walls together with a pressure-sensitive adhesive.

This technique, called Cellulose Fibre Insulation, entails very low heat transmission. Compared to other recycled paper normally used for this process, such as print newspapers, paper release liners are claimed to have the advantage of being made from ‘pure virgin’ fibres which have not been printed on and which have ‘a more consistent and uniform’ quality.