Inovar Packaging Group, with headquarters in Irving, TX, USA, has made significant investments in promoting sustainability and the advancement of recycling throughout its 13 facilities. The company’s diverse locations, ranging from Massachusetts to California, have all undertaken numerous initiatives to promote environmental impact while meeting customer demand.

Inovar has worked in tandem with leading bodies like the APR (Association of Plastic Recyclers) to ensure growth in this area. Working with organizations like APR is essential for ensuring packaging meets recyclability standards, guiding design for recyclability, and obtaining testing and certification. These partnerships help companies navigate complex regulations and support innovation in sustainable packaging.

“While sustainability has always been a focus, formalized and documented efforts began in early 2023,” explains Milissa Bergman, corporate procurement manager, Inovar. “Recognizing the complexity of implementing sustainable practices across different facilities, Inovar appointed a technical manager for Sustainability and Materials to lead efforts in optimizing materials, improving recyclability, and driving environmentally responsible practices throughout its operations.”

According to Steve Holvey, technical manager, Sustainability & Materials, Inovar, several challenges persist for converters when transitioning to recyclable materials. Ensuring accurate data tracking and implementing new workflows require both mindset shifts and financial investment. Sustainable materials must also meet durability, adhesion, and print quality standards, which can be difficult in high-speed production or harsh environments. 

“Labels and packaging often contain multiple materials, such as paper, plastic, inks, coatings, adhesives, which can complicate recycling,” says Holvey. “Additionally, larger labels and high ink coverage can affect recyclability. Sustainability initiatives must align with evolving global regulations, and some sustainable options are not universally accepted by recycling facilities. 

There are a number of factors that have led to an inconsistent recycling infrastructure, too. There is variability in recycling capabilities across regions, which affects material recovery.  Labels must also be designed for easy removal to facilitate recycling.  There has to be a market for these products, as well. Recyclers need a consistent demand for post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials. 

Recycling challenges are not limited to converters, though. Consumer recycling also presents hurdles that impact the circular economy. In many cases, confusing recycling guidelines pose a significant problem, notes Holvey. “Variability in regional recycling rules creates uncertainty,” he says. “Plus, labels that don’t easily separate from packaging hinder recyclability. Complex structures also make material separation difficult.”

“Wishcycling” is also a popular phenomenon in the world of recycling. Consumers often mistakenly place non-recyclable items in the recycling stream, contaminating the process. 

Given these challenges, Inovar has prioritized initiatives that will promote sustainability – now and in the future. “In North America, the label is rarely recyclable,” states Bergman.  “However, the label is the key driver in making the primary packaging recyclable. Most of our consultation has to do with developing the right solution that allows brand managers to market their products effectively, operations to run their filling lines efficiently and meet or exceed all of the recycling associations guidelines. Because of this, there isn’t a one size fits all approach. You need to have several solutions for every type of decoration technology.  For example, we have shrink sleeves that float, ones that the ink ‘washes off,’ and ones that use metallized coatings so that a magnetic can remove them during the recycling process.”

There will need to be an investment in a sustainable infrastructure to meet the growing demand for recyclable products. Machinery may require modifications, and materials need retesting to ensure performance. Sorting requirements may also necessitate redesigning labels, which could mean investments in graphic design, new tooling, and a depletion of existing inventory.

“Sustainable materials can be more expensive due to production constraints and certification requirements, though long-term savings may result from reduced waste and optimized packaging,” says Holvey. “Recycled and bio-based materials often have limited supply, leading to longer lead times and cost fluctuations, too. Materials must also align with existing recycling infrastructure and APR guidelines.”

Inovar has incorporated PCR and PCW materials into its pressure sensitive labels and packaging. The converter also offers thinner label liners and materials to minimize excess waste and enhance production efficiency. The Ino-Reduce ECL label line reduces material usage while maintaining functionality.

Working with APR

As a member of APR, Inovar stays very close to changes in the recycling process and proactively tries to make sure it offers solutions for all of its label categories that meet or exceed their guidelines. 

“Many organizations think it is as simple as using the right adhesive or material to make their primary packaging recyclable,” states Bill Kral, chief commercial officer, Inovar. “That is not true. APR is very focused on not just recycling plastic but making sure that the flake is clean and has the highest resale value. Because of this, we need to make sure that our inks and coatings do not negatively impact the flake or the wastewater. Developing the right combination of inks, coatings, and materials that meet all of the recycling community’s demands is not always easy. However, working with associations like APR make it much easier to understand the testing procedures and results needed so that our customers’ products will make it through the recycling process from coast to coast.”