ISRI adds release liner to circular

The submission to add the grade to the ISRI circular initially came from TLMI and the industry’s CELAB (Circular Economy for Labels) Consortium. CELAB was founded by companies in the self-adhesive label industry to create greater circularity for its products by enhancing and promoting matrix and release liner recycling. 

TLMI and CELAB jointly requested the creation of a bale specification for silicone release liner at the end of 2021, and an ISRI working group reviewed and researched the request. The decision to create a specialty grade classification was passed by the Paper Division in early February 2022.

‘The ISRI specialty specification will help others understand that the liner can be recycled,’ commented Chuck Williams, CELAB Technical Workstream co-chair and senior technical director at Avery Dennison. ‘The liners that the label industry uses are high-quality papers and have high recycle value. We have proven that the release coating can be managed in recycling systems and hope this helps paper manufacturers in adopting a higher use rate of this quality feed stream.’

‘By having a grade code to support collection and recycling of used liner, we will be able to demonstrate the value of that used liner to the market,’ added Timothy Rummel, CELAB Technical Workstream co-chair and technical manager for performance materials and paper coatings at Wacker Chemie. ‘Liner can only be made with premium, highly refined fiber, and once the market realizes this, we believe end-users will begin to seek it out.’

TLMI’s VP of sustainability, Rosalyn Bandy, also a member of the CELAB Technical Workstream, concluded: ‘I look forward to the day when recycling release liner will be a common occurrence and will contribute to a more circular economy.’