Sustainability
in its simplest terms means, giving back to Mother-Earth or environment,
society, or economy, whatever you draw from it. It ultimately delivers a
message for us to leave a safer planet with minimum or no depletion of
resources, for generations that follow, after meeting your own imperative
needs. Let us for example consider just paper. Long years ago, with development
of paper, there was a lot of promotions
to increase its usage, but then it was realized that paper production was
hugely dependent on wood and increased usage meant deforestation. It is an
accepted fact that forests are very important for a healthy environment and
climate. It was on this realization that a lot of emphasis started to be put on
avoiding unnecessary paper usage. Even now responsible company emails have a
footnote advising not to print unless absolutely necessary. On the other hand,
there are statutory directives to paper mills to aid afforestation so as to
increase the forest cover and replenish the amount of wood extracted. However
still, usage of paper is sustainable when produced with implementation of
replenishing the inputs used. Moreover, the paper waste is re-pulpable to again
produce paper or paper board aiding circular economy. Production of all
manufactured goods and services should avoid or reduce
using resources that cannot be replaced and whose depletion will
adversely impact the environment. As mentioned above, paper is mostly produced
from wood whose extended use in paper production leads to deforestation. For
this reason, a lot of manufacturers do a life cycle analysis of products to
achieve a level of sustainability.
Brand
owners and large label user companies have now started insisting on FSC certified
paper usage. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a globally recognized certification system that ensures
that the forests are managed sustainably. Products that are manufactured
from responsibly harvested forests are identified with the FSC logo, which is
considered the “gold standard” of forest certification by major environmental
groups.
Circular economy
Circular
economy also referred to as circularity and CE, refers to a type
of process for production and consumption, which conforms to reusing,
repairing, refurbishing or recycling materials and products. Since CE
helps in reducing raw material requirement, carbon footprint and aids
sustainability, it has gained popularity. It also helps in conservation of
important resources. For an example of CE, milk pouches are made of mono
polymers like LDPE for packaging which is easily recycled or reprocessed to
again convert to plastic granules that can be remolded into usable plastic
products. On the flip side, multi-polymer multi-layered film pouches are not
recyclable and end up in landfills impacting environment adversely as they also
do not biodegrade. However, there is work being done to develop processes that
will enable these also to be recycled. The government of India is actively formulating policies and promoting
projects that will drive the country towards a circular economy system. It is
estimated that a circular economy path adopted by India could bring in annual
benefits of 40 lakh crores or approximately US$ 624 billion in 2050.
Labels
The
material for labelstock consists of many elements and sustainability cannot be
in the total laminate, each component must be sustainable and contribute. The
self-adhesive label laminate primarily consists of face stock with or without a
primer or lamination, pressure sensitive adhesive and siliconized release paper
or film. To be sustainable each element must be dwelled upon separately. The
life cycle of each of these is different and an analysis needs to be done in-depth
to make decisions towards achieving sustainability goals. Climate change and
environmental concerns have now become issues that cannot be ignored and need
to be attended to, at national and global levels. With increased statutory
government directives to reduce carbon footprint and make sustainability an imperative,
manufacturers are under pressure to re-engineer their products and their
packaging. Leading brands have committed themselves to sustainability and circular
economy to reduce their carbon footprint. Labels also being a part of packaging must be designed to
achieve maximum level of sustainability and circular economy. FMCG brand owners
are now preferring packaging solutions that will enable them to achieve
decrease in their carbon footprint ensuring recycling of packaging material
which is environment friendly. It is thus necessary to dwell on the different
components of self-adhesive labels and their diverse usage. In India Avery
Dennison has launched a matrix and liner recycling program to aid these needs.
The liner collected from converters is sent to a company who repulps the liner
mixed with wastepaper to produce tissue for shoe industry or other paper board
items. The matrix is converted to briquettes and used as fuel.
Face materials
_edited.jpg)
The
label face material is the actual performing part of the label that after
application stays with the product during its entire lifecycle. Variety of
substrates are used to be the label depending on its performance and
aesthetics. These can be papers that are either coated or uncoated, plastic
films or other materials. Even paper labels laminated with films are in use. Unlaminated
paper is, as such, largely re-pulpable and converted to become recycled paper
or paperboard to be reused but here we need to understand that in case of
self-adhesive labels, paper alone does not get affixed to the product, it has
an adhesive with it. The final label with the adhesive goes on to the product
while the waste matrix after die-cutting in converting is waste that often goes
to landfills impacting the environment adversely. It can also be shredded and
molded as pellets or bricks to be used as fuel. To that extent we can consider
the waste matrix sustainable as it is put to constructive use. However still, the label that is affixed on
the product has to be disposed along with the adhesive and the package it is on.
So, we need to use special adhesives for the label to be re-pulpable in case of
use on paper based packaging, or removable or washed off for recycling, when
applied on reusable glass containers. We dwell on adhesives later in this
article. Going backwards label buyers also have started insisting for their
vendors to use FSC certified papers. FSC® or Forest Stewardship Council®
certified paper is paper that has been harvested in a responsible manner.
FSC stands for sustainable sourcing that puts forests and people first.
In
case of filmic labels besides adhesive, it is another issue with worldwide movement
against use of plastics wherever avoidable. The reason for this is that
plastics are largely not biodegradable or non-compostable, so they are not
ecofriendly. With EPR becoming mandatory in India, companies are constantly
trying to use materials that can be recycled or reused. According to EPR or Extended Producers Responsibility, which is the responsibility of Producers,
Importers and Brand-owners to ensure processing of their plastic packaging
waste through recycling, re-use or end of life disposal (such as co-processing/Waste-to-energy/Plastic
to-oil/roadmaking/industrial-composting). The impact is evident from the fact
that most companies are shifting towards paper based packaging or even paper
based self-adhesive tapes. Many filmic labels are based on mono polymer PE, PP
or PET so if they are used on bottles made with same polymer these can be
recycled provided the adhesive is compatible. Some companies have been making
changes in manufacturing to improve the recyclability of
product packaging and look at ways of reducing carbon footprint. New
films, made with 30-50% post-consumer recycled material or made with biobased
materials, are offered that aid the circular economy and reduce the use of
fossil based packaging while reducing carbon footprint. Some of these films
available are fully compostable. Specially designed thinner films that are
converted to be used for highspeed
labeling are being preferred as using less material, is a good step toward
sustainability.
Adhesives
Often
when assessing the sustainability of a packaging, people tend to overlook the
impact of adhesives that are an inherent part of the package. An adhesive that
may hinder the recyclability or maybe non compostable will become a setback for
the efforts to make labels and stickers sustainable. An adhesive must be chosen,
such that it will comply with end-of-life process to recycle and reuse or be
compostable. With advancements in technology, adhesives are derived from either
natural or synthetic raw materials. A general perception, that adhesives
formulated with natural inputs may be sustainable and those made from
synthetics are not sustainable, is not true as a rule. Both types of adhesives
can be developed and formulated to perform and yet conform to sustainability.
It is important to study and select adhesive for labels based on your need. Let
us for example consider self-adhesive beer labels in returnable glass bottles.
In this case the adhesive should be compostable and easily washable to separate
from the glass bottle for the bottle to be washed and reused while the label in
the water can also be separated, recycled or dispose without adversely
impacting environment. In case of PE bottles with PE labels, the adhesive
should be compatible, such that it can be shredded granulated along with the
bottle for remolding. For each
application the selection of adhesive is important.
Release
liners
Over
fifty percent of self-adhesive labelstock used for manufacturing labels or
stickers is generated as waste in
converting. This is a known and accepted fact. The waste, more often than not,
goes to landfills impacting environment. The release liner that protects the
adhesive until the label is dispensed and applied, forms a major part of the
waste generated. Since many years companies have been looking at options to
either do away with the liner or reducing the waste generated by the liner. Paper
based liners form more than 80% release liners used for self-adhesive labels.
The paper-based liners include Glassine, SCK, CCK and Poly coated papers.
Linerless labels have been considered and used for some years now but due to
growing need for better aesthetics, die-cutting complex shapes and embellishments,
they have limited use. To reduce the tonnage of liner waste going to landfills
as a sustainability endeavor, there has been talk of reducing the caliper/grammage
of liner used but not much headway has been made in this direction.
In
India and Europe, glassine is largely used as the preferred release liner and
accounts to over 70% of all paper liners used. For long, release papers were
not considered recyclable due to the silicone coating which after crosslinking
becomes inert. However with development in technology, some companies in Europe
and USA developed a de-siliconization
process after which the paper can be processed to reproduce base papers for
siliconizing. In the process, siliconized liner is repulped in water containing
chemicals to release the silicone and remove the small silicone particles like
in the process used for deinking of repulped printed papers. The de-siliconized
pulp can then be used to produce new products, such as fine and specialty
papers like release liner, label face, writing and printing papers. Thereby
achieving circularity.
There
has been substantial growth in use of filmic liners that are thinner and can
take more labels per roll. The residual filmic liner can be recycled, enabling
circularity. To achieve an elevated level of circular economy and
sustainability, “CELAB” (Circular Economy for Labels), was set up by 50 industry-leading companies
representing the entire value chain that have come together to create a
sustainable pressure sensitive labeling industry by offering solutions and
providing education to enable matrix and liner recycling. It is an ad-hoc
coalition empowered to reach across the entire supply chain and leverage the
expertise of industry participants to promote a circular economy for
self-adhesive label materials. CELAB’s members comprise industry members both
large and small, and with both global and regional market presence. It also
includes companies up and down the value chain of the matrix and liner
industry. According to CELAB, “Like many other grades of film, silicone coated
filmic release liners are recycled by regrinding the film into chips/pellets
which can then be mixed with ‘virgin’ polymer and re-introduced to a film
extrusion line for production of new polymeric film.”
Self-adhesive
or pressure sensitive labels industry was at one time considered to be generating
waste that was polluting the environment but gradually all-around efforts are
driving in sustainability and recyclability. It is a matter of time the
processes will evolve and the industry will shed the waste generating tag and
grow.
Written
by Harveer Sahni, Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited New Delhi-India January 2023
