The right paperstock can make all the difference on the shelf. As countless brands jockey for space and consumers’ gazing eyes, paper substrates have the ability to better convey a brand’s messaging.

The newest papers on the market today feature textures that accentuate shadow to the eyes and feel to the fingertips. While promoting positive effects of the haptic senses is not a new trend, it has certainly been emphasized in recent years. Substrate suppliers have worked overtime to deliver a wider range of materials that make an impact on-shelf.

According to Jim Sheibley, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Wausau Coated Products, the Wisconsin-based substrate supplier has monitored the industry trends, developing products that meet their customers’ demands. In addition to standing out on the shelf, these products must be applicable for digital printing – another booming trend in the label and package printing industry.

“Wausau Coated recognizes that owners of UV inkjet presses and hybrid presses would like to run a broader range of uncoated papers with texture and feel,” says Sheibley. “Our R&D team has been perfecting our enhanced uncoated papers, working with OEMs to give those UV-inkjet owners a broader range of materials that work consistently.”

Wausau Coated Products’ newest products include new textured paper materials for the North American label market. The On Trend product line has been developed to meet demand for texture. Meanwhile, Celtic Linen brings more depth to the familiar linen line, while Picasso echoes the depth and contour of the oil paints used by that master. Plus, Black Cobblestone adds feel to familiar black vellum, with deep texture added to black-dyed uncoated paper.

Of course, the newest materials have also been engineered with the environment in mind. Sustainable forestry and sourcing continue to gain traction, with the FSC, SFI and PEFC systems each playing a significant role. Wausau Coated has joined an effort to support a PET liner recycling facility in northern California, so the many labeling operations in that region can get their PET liner into a circular economy for reuse.

Two years ago, Wausau Coated Products introduced its Aged Agave 100% recycled fiber paper. “It was slow to take off, however we have been fortunate to have ‘caught the tequila wave’ as sales of agave-based spirits have soared,” explains Sheibley. “We expanded our non-wood fiber line this year with the addition of Wild Bagasse, which uses sugar cane by-product to make paper.”

In addition, Wausau Coated Products’ R&D and marketing team has assembled what it describes as “the most sustainably attractive wine and spirits label we could build.” That resulted in the company’s newly introduced Estate Label #12 with its H-318 hybrid adhesive and filmic release liner made with 90% rPET (recycled polyester).

Sourcing also remains key in the drive for sustainability. “Multiple North American mills report insufficient FSC chain-of-custody fiber sourcing to meet all their customers’ requests,” says Sheibley. “This may factor into the choices mills, laminators, and converters make to support multiple sustainable sourcing systems. The familiar term of PFAS or ‘forever chemicals’ that made news around fire-fighting foams also touches the paper industry. The perfluoro-chemicals used to impart oil and grease resistance (OGR) in foodservice packaging and some label materials are phasing out. This led to paper mill R&D for replacements, so PSLs buying OGR papers need to stay abreast of developments there.”

The mills will remain central to paper innovation in the future, too. “While our minds may go first to fiber-sourcing choices when we think of ‘sustainable papers,’ potentially the more pressing item for the label industry is the financial sustainability of paper mills serving our industry,” says Sheibley. “With paper mills shuttering or converting from paper to paperboard products, options become restricted and disappear. Label manufacturers need to support mills’ moves to develop face papers and release liner to replace commercial printing papers, or else our options will fall away.”

As Sheibley adds, sustainability is not limited to the facestock either. The papers utilized in release liners also require more sustainable lifecycles. CELAB North America is expected to play a pivotal role in these developments.

“2021 brought more progress by the CELAB global consortium toward a circular economy for labels,” he states. “R&D work at universities and foundations are proving that SCK, glassine, and CCK liners can and should be recycled in various streams, including mixed fiber recycling.  CELAB North America currently has a recovery initiative focused on Chicago and surrounding regions toward lifting the recovery rate of release liners.”