Page 30 - FINAT Yearbook 2011

the finat liner recycling programme
AddRessing ouR collective ResponsibilitY
The self-adhesive label industry is committed to the cause of sustainability. Recycling is one of the top priorities of FINAT. However, the value chain in the self-adhesive label industry is long, complex and specialized, which leads to its own set of challenges. Recycling of spent release liners generated by the end-users of self-adhesive labels is one of these challenges that offers potential for improvement.
It is estimated that annual consumption of liner materials for self-adhesive labels in Europe amounts to some 300 thousand tons of paper based and another 30 thousand tons of filmic materials. According to studies, the vast majority of spent liners is currently still being incinerated (with energy recovery) or sent to landfill. ‘Closed Loop’ recycling converting collected liner materials into
new materials as input for industrial processes is still applied on limited scale.
But the number of dedicated recycling solutions is increasing as desiliconisation technologies are continuously evolving, the demand for secondary raw materials is pushed by scarcity of primary fibres or granulates and, finally the cost of waste disposal and incineration is triggering
the adoption of recycling alternatives. Furthermore, sustainability has become an integrated part of the corporate strategies of our customers. Last year, Cycle4Green (C4G)and Lenzing Paper joined forces to establish a Europe-wide closed loop release paper recycling initiative. Recently, the French paper recycling company Vertaris (based near Grenoble) announced their solution to the industry. For filmic liners, UPM is making available its Rafcycle pro- gramme. And FINAT is looking forward to welcome more dedicated recycling programmes as they come on stream.
Presently, the collection of geograph- ically fragmented volumes of liner materials is still a challenge and converters are insufficiently aware of where to direct their customers for recycling. This in turn is making it difficult to collect the volumes necessary to generate economically sustainable recycling programmes.
finat recycling project group
To encourage liner recycling in Europe and break through this vicious circle, a new FINAT Recycling Project Group has been set up at the beginning of 2011. The Group is set up to stimulate the industry and its associations in making new inroads and identifying alternative strategies for the management of secondary materials from our industry and its customers. It has set itself the target of helping the industry increase
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FinAt YeARbooK 2011 |