Sustainability has emerged as one of the key trends in the label and package printing industry. Companies throughout all levels of the supply chain, from brands to converters, have recognized the need for more environmentally friendly practices. Not only are sustainable endeavors better for the environment, they can boost the bottom line, as well.

Fedrigoni, Acucote’s new parent company, has lofty sustainability goals to go along with its versatile product range. Fedrigoni’s goal is to go from 50% to 95% of their procurement spending assessed with the additional lens of the ESG criteria (compared to the base year 2020)

By 2030, Fedrigoni is striving to have 70% of its self-adhesive product volume include advanced ESG features. This ESG goal includes solutions like FSC-certified products with recycled content, recycled content materials, alternate fiber materials, and thinner liners and facestocks that ensure the same or improved performance. Additionally, Acucote has emphasized wash-off solutions and dissolvable solutions, as well as developing recyclable, biodegradable and bio-based plastics (certified), films without polyvinyl chlorides (PVC) and without perfluoro alkyl substances (PFAS).

A recent innovation includes a product that turns discarded liner into a new resource. Acucote is also encouraging its vendors to offer sustainable alternatives to the company’s current product offerings.

“We are actively launching and seeking raw material alternatives to build more sustainable product lines,” explains Melissa Harton, marketing manager, Fedrigoni Self-Adhesives North America. “Almost everything we are working on has some element of sustainability. For example, when evaluating suppliers, we seek FSC® certified or other sustainably managed products that could enhance or replace current grades. Additionally, recycled content or other innovative uses of incorporating waste materials into paper are preferential candidates for our R&D program.”

Acucote has designed a robust product portfolio to answer the latest trends in the industry. The company is seeing an increased desire for APR approved products, and product approvals by organizations like APR remain a priority.

Price neutral options like USDA and FSC are popular, as well. BioPreferred Certification is awarded by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), where it validates the biobased content of products through third-party testing to the ASTM D6866 standard. This third-party testing determines whether or not a commercial or industrial product is composed of biological elements. 

“Each of the facestocks in this new portfolio are certified by the USDA BioPreferred program as being constructed with 87% biobased components when combined with our CP1 biodegradable adhesive and 40# liner,” says Harton.

Another recent trend calls for compostable solutions. Acucote currently has adhesives in testing for compostability, and the company has engineered a biodegradable solution.

“Acucote’s CP1 provides customers a biodegradable solution,” states Harton. “Our CP1 adhesive is made from biodegradable materials, and it has been tested by a third party and contains 98% biobased content. To date, we are encouraging vendors, as they make component improvements or develop new adhesives, to keep compostability in mind.” 

For Acucote, the sustainable initiatives go beyond new products, too. The company has joined environmental and regulatory committees to ensure it is up to date with its customers’ needs.

“We have a formal Sustainability Committee that meets regularly to discuss trends and explore new initiatives,” comments Harton. “This committee identifies sustainable solutions for customers, specific to their application, and researches sustainable raw materials to offer Acucote customers.”

Staying up-to-date on regulations, especially REACH, will be critical for Acucote. “More customers are selling into the global market,” remarks Terri Brown, technical manager, Acucote. “This requires REACH compliance. We use our application engineering process to meet with our customers to understand their sustainable journey and sustainability goals. From there, we are able to offer solutions that tailor into their sustainable vision.”

In addition, Fedrigoni’s acquisition of Acucote better enables the adhesive and substrate supplier to develop innovative solutions for its customers. “We now have expanded access and resources,” notes Harton. “Being one company, we are working together to share knowledge and expand solutions. For example, we now have access to an entire portfolio of sustainable products in Europe, in addition to those products stocked here in the US. There is a global team of regulatory and sustainable experts, and they have experience in a diverse array of areas.  This allows us to utilize their knowledge to give our customers the best service.”

In the future, Acucote anticipates the development of more sustainable products for its customers. These will include FSC®, recycled content, alternate fiber, APR approvals and compostable solutions.

“We will continue to expand in global research for the latest in innovative, sustainable coatings. We look forward to being ISO 9001:2015 certified in 2022, which will further streamline operations,” concludes Harton.