‘Self-adhesive labels have traditionally had an inherent problem, which is the waste that is the liner. The liner is an essential part of the labelling process in many instances, and often it constitutes more than 50 percent of a run of labels,’ declares Gell. ‘As manufacturers, we recognise our responsibilities about waste and are keen to partner with our customers to ensure it is minimised.’
Customers participating in the program can return pre-sorted liner waste to Mercian Labels, who will check it, collate it, and send it off to the pulping plant, where it will be turned back into release liner and paper.
‘We keep any liner waste that is created here in the factory, and we encourage our customers to store their liner waste until they have sufficient volume to ship back to us,’ declares Gell. ‘This generally costs our customers less than sending it to landfill or other waste streams. Once we have collected sufficient liner waste, it is shipped to a paper mill in Europe for it to be turned back into label liner again, or similar products such as paper for the magazine industry. This is a truly circular waste cycle.’
According to Mercian Labels, the label release liner is often forgotten about by many brands because there simply hasn’t been a sustainable alternative to processing label liner waste for many years.
As a result of the Closed Loop initiative, the company aims to recycle around 100 tons of liner waste in the first year alone. Equal to the weight of a Boeing 757-200 aircraft to put that into context. This volume of waste prevents 228 tons of CO2 emissions, which, in turn, equals six average-sized cars driven for a year. Nature would need 3,770 tree seedlings grown over ten years to capture and store that same amount of carbon dioxide.
