Sustainability buzzing at Labelexpo Europe 2013

The global label association, L9, met early in the week and agreed that collaboration is required in order for the industry to overcome environmental hurdles. While much work is being done in all regions of the world, there is a need to communicate such efforts more effectively to brand owners. It’s possible that in the future the L9 will come together to deliver an international environmental program.

Avery Dennison took home the Global Label Industry Award for sustainability on Tuesday night for its Bottle-to-Bottle portfolio that increases the recycle compatibility with PET containers. The portfolio features clear or white BOPP film facestock anchored by SR3010, a switchable adhesive which adheres to a PET bottle until the cohesive bond is broken at the recycler. It meets the Association of Plastics Recyclers (APR) guidelines published earlier this year. Recyclers cannot afford to have any percent of their collected plastics tossed away because of the label.

UPM Raflatac is demonstrating its Label Life software program, a tool that provides a comparable Life Cycle Analysis and environmental footprint estimate for its materials processing. The key is transparency. That’s what brand owners are increasingly demanding. More than 300 products can be evaluated based on facestock, adhesive and liner combinations. The analysis includes raw material sourcing, labelstock manufacturing, delivery to converters and the end of life destination of the material. Label Life allows the end of life to be evaluated for the entire label construction inclusive of the liner: recycling, incineration and landfill. At this morning’s press conference, Mike Fairley and I were keen to expand this LCA evaluation across label industry stakeholders. Indeed a number of evaluations can be found in our Environmental Performance book launched at Labelexpo Europe 2011.

Consumer product companies may need to pay more for labels that will catalyze the ability to recycle primary containers. There’s great innovation to be realized here. Converters are encouraged to consult with their customers on the benefits that can be found in film on film labeling and packaging with the right construction technology.

Thin film technologies help to reduce cost to the point that they may be used for applications that have traditionally demanded paper. They also reduce material volume that will most likely end up in landfill. Recycling rates for both matrix waste and release liner is only around ten percent in Europe and North America.

While the market frequently uses semi-conformable facestock films at 2.2mil and rigid constructions at 2.0mil with a 1.2mil PET liner, thinner is rapidly evolving. Market leaders are currently working with and exploring liners below .92 gauge, which are showing impressive results.

ETI Converting offers converters the ability to convert their own pressure sensitive label material, delivering cost savings and opportunity for construction innovation. Also, the equipment is capable of converting thin films (12 micron) and linerless options that can assist converters and their customers in reducing their environmental footprint.

UV LED technology has made an impact at the event. Mark Andy and Gallus have shown that the curing technology uses one-third of the energy required when compared to traditional mercury UV systems, and the lamps are instant-on instant-off – meaning they do not require warm up time. A handful of ink suppliers such as Flint Group, Sun Chemical, Siegwerk and INX have LED ink systems available. While Phoseon collaborated with Mark Andy and Flint to deliver a system that won the Global Label Industry Award for Innovation this week, be sure to also review IST’s system offering easy exchange between traditional UV lamps and UV LED heads.

Nilpeter launched its FB-3 and FA-4* series of flexo presses to the European market, keeping the impact of an environmental footprint in mind. One key feature is ultra-low power consumption managed by a new power regeneration servo system, which together with the latest low power UV technology is claimed to reduce carbon footprint significantly. The press manufacturer is also offering a software function within the in-press job management center that logs the total carbon footprint of each job to the order ticket.

These are only a few of the sustainable products to be seen at the show this year. Please review Issue 5 of L&L for further details on others.

Labelexpo Europe 2013 Sustainability Videos to watch:

Avery Dennison CEO talks sustainability and responsible sourcing

Calvin Frost, the label industry's environmental pioneer, discusses where the industry has come from, what the main challenges are what needs to be done in regard to sustainability