Sappi reaffirms commitment to release liners

Sappi has reinforced its commitment to its release liner business with several investments and activities to ensure a long-term and sustainable supply to meet the demands of a ‘dynamically changing marketplace’.

Sappi said it is also growing its presence in the Americas and Asia while enhancing its position in silicone base papers in the European pressure-sensitive adhesive market

The rebuild of PM 2 at the company’s mill in Alfled, Germany kicked off this program, which has allowed Sappi to grow its production capacities, and enhance the performance capabilities and benefits of its release liner portfolio, which includes Algro Sol silicon base papers.

Among the developments are lower grammages for Algro Sol SNC at 82gsm, 85gsm and 98gsm. Produced on PM2, Sappi said these papers offer high volume, good mechanical strength, consistent thickness and they are very good for reverse side scoring (crack back), and have ‘outstanding’ siliconization properties while offering minimum silicone consumption and excellent hold-out.

Sappi said it is also growing its presence in the Americas and Asia while enhancing its position in silicone base papers in the European pressure-sensitive adhesive market.

‘We continue to invest in the release liner business to develop new products together with our customers and strengthen our market position in long term,’ said Gunnar Sieber, release liner product group manager at Sappi. ‘We hold a leading position in Europe, and thanks to the rebuild of our PM2, we have acquired additional market shares in countries outside Europe. The Americas and Asia are our focus.

Optimization of logistics and the subsequent impact on environmental consideration is another central component of Sappi’s customer-oriented strategy, and Sieber said: ‘It pays to look at the best logistical choice for shipping our paper to our customers. It speeds up delivery and enhances availability. Together with our customers we are analyzing their current situation and we are developing specific logistical concepts. In one particular project when we optimized transportation customers benefitted from shorter delivery times and in addition we also reduced the distance travelled by half and carbon dioxide emissions by 112 tons yearly.’