Driving Sustainability Forward: UPM Raflatac Partners with Sustana to Tackle Release Liner Waste

By Paper Advance
In a significant move towards sustainability in the packaging industry, UPM Raflatac and Sustana have announced a collaborative effort to revolutionize the recycling of release liner waste.

This partnership aims to transform an often-overlooked material into a valuable resource, marking a crucial step towards a circular economy in the label and packaging sector.

Release liners, typically discarded due to their silicone coating, have long been considered challenging to recycle. However, this collaboration challenges that notion by leveraging Sustana’s innovative desiliconization technology. This process allows for the conversion of release liner waste into high-quality fiber and paper products, effectively diverting significant amounts of material from landfills.

UPM Raflatac’s RafCycle™ service plays a pivotal role in this initiative by establishing a network of recycling partners. This network enables even smaller waste generators to participate in the recycling process, addressing one of the major hurdles in scaling up release liner recycling: the collection and aggregation of sufficient quantities for efficient processing.

The partnership between UPM Raflatac and Sustana exemplifies the growing trend of cross-industry collaboration in tackling environmental challenges. By combining UPM Raflatac’s expertise in label solutions with Sustana’s advanced recycling capabilities, the two companies are setting a new standard for sustainability in the packaging industry.

This initiative aligns with broader industry efforts, such as the CELAB consortium, which aims to promote recycling solutions for label release liners. It also responds to increasing consumer and regulatory pressure for more sustainable packaging solutions.

As the packaging industry continues to evolve, partnerships like this one between UPM Raflatac and Sustana are likely to become more common, driving innovation and sustainability across the value chain. This collaboration not only addresses the immediate challenge of release liner waste but also sets a precedent for how companies can work together to create more circular and sustainable business models.