Germany-based label printer Etibana Haftetiketten has joined UPM Raflatac’s recycling concept RafCycle that involves the reuse of self-adhesive label stock to create new materials.
As a part of the programme, the company has used labelling by-products that would otherwise have been sent to incinerators or landfills. These products are then given a new lease of life and converted into UPM ProFi composite material, new paper products or renewable energy.
UPM said many companies have benefitted from the programme, including GMP-certified Etibana that specialises in producing labels for the pharmaceutical industry.
Under the RafCycle initiative, byproducts from all stages are converted, making it an environment-friendly process. It uses process waste from coating and slitting operations, matrix and start-up waste from printing and die-cutting and liner waste from label dispensing.
Speaking about the importance of the programme, Etibana executive director Mike Manss said: "In the industrial future, sustainable business will be a very important issue because of limited resources. That is the reason why companies should be aware of the environment and recycling their waste.
"For ETIBANA, it is and has always been important to be a sustainable commercial enterprise. Currently our company is certified in the area of energy management according to DIN 50001 with the purpose to save more energy."
The ISO 14001 certified company said that RafCycle helped it recycle its release liner to turn it into a completely new material which not only helped it reduce its impact on environment but also achieve operational goals.
"UPM is responsible for the collection of the waste-containers, and by installing an extraction system for the release liner, we can reduce our transportation expenses and optimize our proceedings. RafCycle program offers excellent assistance for achieving business and environment goals," added Manss.
