The 2022 FINAT Sustainability Awards recognize the efforts of the self-adhesive label industry to increase sustainability. This year five initiatives were entered in the competition, covering innovative paper-based labels, renewable energy generation, decorations optimized for environmental impact, and compostable flexible packaging.

The winners were announced during a ceremony at the FINAT Technical Seminar 2022, held in Barcelona on November 23, 2022.

The jury, consisting of Jacques van Leeuwen, chair, and TLMI’s Rosalyn Bandy judged the submitted data for their demonstration of improved environmental and social impact, achievements, relevance, cooperation along the value chain and overall uniqueness. The jury decided to award two initiatives among the received ones, in the categories of Converter Small & Medium, and Converter Large.

Securikett Ulrich & Horn won in the category of Converter Small & Medium with their entry IT’S PAPER series – VOID Labels and VOID Tapes. The initiative was prized by the jury for incorporating renewable content, contributing to the recyclability of packaging including security features, and for providing a solution that replaces film with fiber-based materials.

All4Labels Group with their initiative Starshine took over the Converter Large category. The jury was impressed with the reduced environmental impact of the products, including a reduction of use of hazardous materials, reduced energy consumption and the elimination of plastic filmic materials required for the process. The initiative is the result of outstanding cooperation within the organization, from R&D and sustainability to marketing and sales.

Pablo Englebienne, FINAT regulatory and sustainability affairs manager, comments, “We were pleased to receive diverse initiatives from suppliers and converters of all sizes, showcasing how sustainability is in everyone’s mind. In this year with so many other issues affecting businesses, such as supply shortages and ever-increasing energy costs, it is refreshing to see that sustainability still plays a major role in the development of products and services in the self-adhesive value chain. We look forward to seeing more initiatives from our members in the next edition of the awards in 2023.”