AWA discusses global release liner industry

Corey Reardon, president and chief executive officer at AWA, kicked off the seminar with a presentation sharing figures from the global release liner market. He said that it attracted 5.2 percent global growth in 2014. The total global labelstock market is pegged at 21.5 billion sqm.

While the Asian market represents 37 percent of the total, it is the least homogeneous with significant difference in growth in different regions. The overall regional market is growing at eight to nine percent. India and China, however, are growing the fastest at 12 percent but at a decelerating rate. Japan, meanwhile, is growing at one to two percent. Though the average global growth for label market is 3.2 percent, it is slowing down as the Asia Pacific market matures.

Europe represents 29 percent of the total labelstock market and is estimated to be growing at 3.2 percent; North America represents 25 percent of the global market with growth rate of 2.5 percent.

Comparing the growth by substrate, Reardon said there is an increase in the global film release liner market. As per the report, it stood at 17 percent in 2014, a two percent increase from 2008. ‘Film is continuing to reduce the reputation of paper labelstock but we don’t see film replacing paper in the foreseeable future. Clear-on-clear labels are a big growth area especially in the beverage segment,’ said Reardon.

Further dividing the market, he said that four segments including labelstock, tapes, hygiene and industrial make up 81 percent of the total market with focus on the label industry. Labelstock forms 49 percent of the global release market followed by tapes which comprise 13 percent of the market share. ‘Main growth areas in specialty tapes include electronics, aerospace applications, white goods and automotives,’ he said.

He further added that though 48 percent of all labeling technology used is pressure-sensitive, it has come under pressure from alternative labeling technologies such as shrink sleeves and in-mold labeling.

UPM’s business development director, Miko Rissasen, described how release liners continue to adapt in the label market. UPM has developed thinner base papers and technology to meet sustainability requirements in the label market and requirements for high speed silicone coating of release base materials. Indicating future challenges in release liner value chain, Rissasen said that the top three would be availability and price of resources, sustainability and global competition.

Roelof Klein, commercial manager at Maan Group, presented a case study on linerless labels. ‘Linerless penetration stands at 20 percent globally which is about the same as it was two years ago and one of the main applications being direct thermal,’ he said. ‘Some other applications for linerless are box labeling, flow packs, top and bottom labeling in food packs and sleeve labeling. However, there is much more equipment available now that helps generate awareness amongst consumer and sell more machines.’ Klein also stressed the environmental aspect of using linerless labels, highlighting the saving of the enormous amount of release liner waste, optimization of white space and logistics.

Get innovative

During a panel discussion, Mike Cooper, business development director at Catchpoint, said that industry needs to stop slashing prices and ‘get innovative’. He commented that linerless is 15 percent less expensive than pressure-sensitive, due to savings in raw material. ‘We are trying for major brands to make the change. Sixty percent of all label volume used in FMCG is rectangular, so requirement of different shapes should not be a problem to make a transition’. Adding to the main application of linerless being direct thermal, Cooper said that it is a significant market valued at 2 billion square meters per annum in Japan alone.

Dan Muenzer, vice president of marketing at Constantia Flexibles, discussed competitive label technologies and said that prime labeling represents 45 percent of all pressure-sensitive constructions worldwide, including leadership positions in both food and beverage applications. His presentation addressed the current state of the prime label market and reviewed technologies trying to take pressure-sensitive’s lucrative position. He cited numerous examples of innovative ideas used by brands such as Coca Cola and Heineken to differentiate their products, make their labels more efficient and generate customer interest. Muenzer said that three to five percent of all labels are made using in-mold labeling. He pointed out that e-commerce is going to change the type of packaging a lot of brands use. ‘It could be an opportunity for pressure-sensitive but it is going to be different.’ One thing to worry about, he said, is growth of direct print on containers.

Robyn Buma, global procurement director, paper, Avery Dennison, looked at how suppliers are performing in product quality. ‘We want to remain competitive in the market from every stand point be it price or quality,’ she said.

Hans Oerley, senior manager business development at Dr Schenk Industriemesstechnik, discussed how automatic optical inspection systems (AOI) can help raise the quality of the components of labelstock, resulting in higher product quality and improved label performance. Manufacturers of labelstock achieve higher output with reliable material quality, hand in hand with lower production costs. He compared manual and automatic inspection and explained the significance of quality and process control. He added, ‘AOI costs money but return on investment is at most two years and it can help get printers better business.’

Other panel discussions focused on silicone technology and release liner waste and recycling. Calvin Frost, chairman of Channeled Resources Group, spoke about the life-cycle assessment project that was presented at the L9 the day before Labelexpo Europe started. Aside from logistics and collection, he said, there is a cultural issue within companies regarding recyclability. ‘It took us years to get one of the major brands to start recycling their PET liner,’ he said. Ulrich Leberle, raw materials director, Confederation of European Paper Industries, added: ‘Recycling is raw material for us. We need to push awareness in the value chain and also need standardization.’