Ravenwood and Henkel partner on linerless labeling

Ravenwood Packaging is announcing a collaboration with Henkel, an adhesive manufacturer and supplier for Ravenwood’s linerless labeling technology. The partnership will be officially showcased at Labelexpo Europe 2025, where both companies will feature one another on their respective stands, highlighting the synergy between Ravenwood’s linerless ecosystem and Henkel’s adhesives. Ravenwood will be at Stand 5A52 and Henkel at Stand 4C56.
 
Through a partnership with Ravenwood, Henkel has developed exclusive hot-melt pressure-sensitive adhesives designed to deliver smooth, clean coating and converting specifically for linerless labelling. The adhesives are formulated and tested for use with Ravenwood’s Com500 Coaters, ensuring optimal performance for Ravenwood Approved Printers across global markets.
 
Engineered for compatibility with Ravenwood’s Nobac Applicators, the adhesives support high-speed production and perform reliably in cold chain environments, making them suitable for food logistics.
 
The alliance between Ravenwood and Henkel forms a key part of Ravenwood’s Circle of Linerless, a holistic approach that connects every element of the linerless ecosystem to ensure efficiency, sustainability and performance.
 
Ravenwood’s linerless labels are 100 percent kerbside recyclable and have recently received full APCO (Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation) accreditation. In May 2024, APCO approved Ravenwood’s linerless technology for classification as ‘Recyclable’ under the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) program. This achievement followed a three-year journey led by Ravenwood director Dan Coe in collaboration with BioPRIA and Monash University. Testing demonstrated that Ravenwood’s labels achieved an average pulp yield of over 93.75 percent after screening, a crucial benchmark in recyclability.
 
'Henkel’s approved adhesives reinforce our goal to deliver the most reliable and sustainable linerless solution on the market,' said Coe. 'Our partnership reflects a shared vision: to innovate without compromise and build a packaging future rooted in performance and responsibility.'
 
Ravenwood’s Circle of Linerless encompasses materials, machinery and support services. The ecosystem includes the Com 500 Coater for label production; Nobac 5000 applicators for label application; materials, including adhesives, silicones and base paper; keyline label design services, disaster recovery and technical support; the VXR end-of-line system, ensuring pack integrity through vision, X-ray and contaminant checks; and RRAP (Ravenwood Recyclability Approval Program), helping printers meet Ravenwood’s chain of custody and sustainability standards.
 
With more brands seeking sustainable packaging alternatives, Ravenwood’s linerless technology continues to drive down CO₂ emissions. All Ravenwood machinery is manufactured in the UK, with over 90 percent of components for the Nobac 5000 applicator sourced within a 4-mile radius of its Norwich factory. Based on typical linerless label dimensions and volumes from previous years, it’s estimated that Ravenwood’s technology prevented 7,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions from entering the atmosphere in 2024, equivalent to the weight of 37 fully loaded Boeing 737 aircraft.