Label waste sent to landfill in the UK tops 120,000 tonnes annually

Prismm Environmental explained that this occurs as waste requires shredding before it can be reused. This poses a problem as the strong, sticky waste causes shredding machine failure, seeing it deemed as unrecyclable. 

One option to counter this is the Zero Labels 2 Landfill Scheme, which is provided by Prismm Environmental and sponsored by the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF), whereby label waste is diverted from landfill and instead used to produce solid recovered fuel (SRF) used in the production of cement. 

Materials that are collected under the scheme include matrix waste, glassine, silicon packaging paper, waste foil on cores and make-ready and set-up reels. Collections can be arranged from as little as 600kg up to 26 tonnes and are available nationwide in the UK.

Through the scheme, Prismm Environmental said it has saved 42,190 tonnes of label waste from landfill since 2015.

OPM (Labels & Packaging) Group was recently awarded Zero Labels 2 Landfill certification, while Hamilton Adhesive Labels has become a zero waste organization from September when it started to collect and divert label waste from landfill under the Zero Labels 2 Landfill scheme.

Prismm Environmental has also begun using the cryptocurrency Bitcoin for payments. The company is accepting payments against invoices in the currency, and will shortly pay for a load of paper in Bitcoin too.