According to Germany-based labelstock supplier VPF, a plethora of benefits can be expected from a new adhesive-coated labelstock made of grass paper – the latest ultra-sustainable addition to VPF’s product portfolio.Thanks to its strong ecological appeal, this material is especially suitable for printing labels for upmarket products in the food, beverages and cosmetics industries.

“Protecting the environment and conserving resources are key considerations for VPF when developing new self-adhesive materials.So it is especially gratifying to find innovative new paper grades that are produced using a readily available renewable like grass,” the company says.

The fresh fiber content in these papers is 50%.This provides a major advantage by slashing the required process water input during production.According to the manufacturer, less than one litre of water is needed per ton of grass fibre pulp, compared with 6000 litres of water per tonne when producing conventional wood cellulose.This automatically results in significant energy savings and an associated reduction in CO2emissions. Available in a grammage of 95 g/m², the grass paper is recyclable, compostable and certified as an FSC-Mix. It has been approved for direct food contact.

Available for both permanent and removable labels
VPF is providing the grass paper material with two different adhesives coatings as standard.For permanent-label applications the dispersion acrylate adhesive 958 is used. This grade is ideal for small diametersand a large variety of substrates.The multi-purpose adhesive has been approved for direct food contact.For removable labels, VPF employs the well established 987 adhesive. Removable without a trace from many different kinds of substrate, this adhesive too is based on acrylic emulsion.The adhesives were selected after extensive migration and ageing tests conducted in VPF’s laboratories at its home plant in Sprockhövel, Germany.Grass paper 95g (VPF 20727) can be easily printed using conventional printing methods.A4 samples and sample rolls are available as of now.

The demand for environmentally sound solutions for label printing is clearly growing, according to VPF, who says its new self-adhesive grass paper labelstock is a perfect match for this as grass can be harvested several times a year and is an especially eco-friendly starting material for papermaking.