Release liner recycling initiative

Nonwovens leader Ahlstrom is launching a new initiative for recycling silicone coated paper release liners employed in the pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) label industry.

The company will collect silicone coated supercalendered papers – commonly known as ‘glassine’ – once they’ve been used as carriers of PSA labels by brand owners and retailers.

Ahlstrom will collect the materials through one or more logistics partners and will recycle them into speciality paper production at its Osnabrück plant in Germany.

Glassine paper release liners will be picked-up at no cost from end-users anywhere in Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands, at a minimum quantity of two tons per load.

Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials will support the initiative and use its contacts across the value chain in order to make label printers and brand owners aware.

Ahlstrom’s recycling capacity is sufficient to absorb the release liner waste of a significant number of end-users, increasing the recycling options available and will helping divert paper liner waste from landfill or incineration, while increasing the quantities recycled into paper.

“Thanks to Ahlstrom Osnabrück's convenient location in north-western Germany and the support of Avery Dennison, this programme will offer PSA label end-users an opportunity to increase their overall environmental performance,” says Daniele Borlatto, executive vice president at Ahlstrom Label and Processing. “Such programmes also reinforce the position of paper as a uniquely sustainable material for the PSA industry.”