Finat Technical Seminar held in Barcelona

The biennial Finat Technical Seminar drew nearly 200 participants to Barcelona on March 11-12 to discuss technology trends and debate global industry issues.

Finat, the international association for the self-adhesive label industry, hosted a broad-ranging conference program that focused on raw materials, new processes, and the way in which industry participants can bring together added value and sustainability for their end-user customers.  

As a guest speaker, label industry expert Mike Fairley, founder of Labels & Labeling magazine, delivered a call to action that was the central thread of the seminar. He identified the need for the self-adhesive label industry to actively position itself as a core part of the broader packaging industry, and become an influencer in packaging industry sustainability, environmental management and best practice initiatives.

There is much ongoing legislative activity in this area, and delegates benefited from an in-depth update of EU environmental directives, including Reach, the chemical legislation in Europe.

In his opening address, Finat president Andrea Vimercati, pictured, highlighted the need for the industry to support customers with a continuing stream of innovative products that draw on the many technical capabilities of the self-adhesive label industry supply chain. Barcelona-based label converter Germark then presented some creative examples of label printing innovation.

The seminar went on to examine advances in adhesives and inks, with papers presented on recycling-friendly, dispersion-based, and UV hot melt adhesive developments and on solutions to current product food contamination concerns surrounding the migration of printing inks through packaging. Other topics covered during the conference included digital printing, pre-press, die-cutting, tension control, RFID and holography.

The conference also dealt with environmental sustainability issues, with delegates learning about a project currently being undertaken by German labeling association VskE, which focuses on the development of guidelines for good environmental health and safety practices.

Delegates also learned how new generation reel-to-reel presses can help to meet end user needs; and how developing an understanding of the specialist requirements of specific end-use markets can encourage a switch to self-adhesive labels from alternative decoration formats, delivering overall market growth. Linerless labels – eliminating one of the key waste issues in the self-adhesive label laminate, the release liner – were also highlighted as a success story in the sustainability agenda.  

Closing the event, Finat Technical Committee chairman Håkan Saxén remarked that the seminar had highlighted some real industry advances, and that it had also provided a valuable networking opportunity, both in the social program and in the tabletop exhibition. He invited seminar participants to Finat’s 2010 Congress in Valencia in June, and to the next Technical Seminar, to be held in March 2012.  

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