In conjunction with Labelexpo Americas, AWA Alexander Watson Associates held the Label Release Liner Industry Seminar, which explored a wide range of topics elating to release liner. On September 12, 2016, industry suppliers, producers and users joined AWA to look at emerging trends and relevant data.

As part of the event, industry experts explained how release liner recycling and sustainability can make the labeling process more efficient, leading to more profits and a better bottom line.

Dan Muenzer, TLMI chairman and VP of marketing at Constantia Flexibles, delivered an industry overview during his presentation, “Is This Label Thing Ever Going to Slow Down? Phew!”

Before tackling issues associated with release liner, Muenzer established several trends and developments in the pressure sensitive labeling industry–a significant user of release liner technologies. According to Muenzer, 53% of North American labeling is pressure sensitive, and in 2015, it grew by 1.8%. Currently, pressure sensitive labeling accounts for 85% of the personal care market, over 85% of wine, and 70% in spirits. The beverage and food segments also represent huge growth opportunities.

“The bad part about traditional pressure sensitive is that it’s a contaminant in the recycling stream,” said Muenzer. “The label itself contaminates that PET flake and that’s a problem. The orange juice category has converted to a recycle friendly adhesive, so these labels allow the PET to be recycled.”

During the afternoon portion of the Release Liner Seminar, panelists from Avery Dennison, UPM, Label King, and the Environmental Committee took part in a Recycling Session. Renae Kulis, senior director, global leader of sustainability at Avery Dennison, Jaakko Rautalahti, head of product development, UPM Label, Pack & Release, Robert Parker, owner of Label King, and Calvin Frost, chair on the Environmental Committee and L&NW contributor, explored different aspects of the recycling chain. 

Rautalahti laid out some of the challenges facing the industry today, including climate, water conditions, natural resources and bio-diversity, and the increasing population. According to Rautalahti, the current recycling collection rate in Europe is 7-10% of used liners, and that number could be somewhere around 50%. While there are no quick fixes, he said the industry needs to increase its use of renewable resources and energy, as well as recyclable products.

In addition, Rautalahti added several possible solutions. One involves the realization that paper-based liners can be recycled. He also believes that downgauging with an eco-design concept would be helpful. “Downgauging is an excellent tool to boost the sustainability of liners,” he said. “Thinner liners provide instantly more sustainable solutions.”

The panelists presented a common theme during the seminar, and it included a reverse pyramid. An effective waste management concept starts at the top with waste prevention, and it flows downward in the following order: prevent, re-use, recycle, recover (subsequently using in another way), and disposal (the last resort).

“Recycling is a good option if it can be done efficiently,” said Rautalahti. “It’s better to recover the liner and use it in some other way than to landfill it. The worst option is to just dispose of it.”

Kulis of Avery Dennison detailed her company’s goals and efforts in becoming more sustainable. In 2015, Avery Dennison released its first sustainability report, and the substrate provider has set goals for 2025. Its sustainability program is currently built on balance and recycling. These goals include better sourcing options for paper and setting attainable targets for recycled content.

“We thought, as a leader in the labeling industry, we wanted to have something, and at least have a position,” explained Kulis. “We did that in alignment with where we saw the customer base going. Almost every large CPG has some sort of target.”

In addition, Avery Dennison has undergone third-party auditing to remain transparent with its sustainability goals. One proposed theory involves a circular economy, whereby old liner is used to make new liner. The next steps will involve viable options for PET liner, and paper and film matrix.

“We have a minimum target for recycled content,” added Kulis. “We don’t think that we can be in the labeling business without labels, so we need to contribute less waste, and that’s about recycled content and diversion from landfills. We have a goal that 70% of Avery Dennison revenues will come from sustainability driven products. As an organization, this is fundamentally changing the way we think.”

In discussing liner, “the packaging of the label,” Parker said that less than 1% of companies recycle liners–leading to 270,000 tons of wasted liner. “As much as we want to avoid it, all the numbers bear it out, liner goes to the landfills,” he said. ‘There’s a lot of good intentions out there, but nothing with any real traction has happened yet.”

“The driver has to be for the laminator to say to their base-stock suppliers, ‘I need a percentage of secondary liner in my base-sheet within two years,” said Frost. “That will create a groundswell of demand for silicone-coated spent liner. Until we have that demand, we don’t have a market. We need demand.”