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INDUSTRY
TRENDS
AND MARKET
DATA
Following the Treasurer’s report and FINAT housekeeping
items, the General Assembly was concluded. Plenary
proceedings recommenced after a networking and coffee
break around the tabletop. Next on the agenda was the
annual presentation of statistics, industry trends, and outlook
from FINAT’s Managing Director, Jules Lejeune. Reviewing
the comparative consumption of paper and non-paper rolls
and sheets during the last year, and the relative regional
trends, he recorded an overall -0.6% growth in 2011, with film
labelstocks showing positive growth of 1.6%. Q1 data for 2012
indicate that overall growth for the year will be a modest
0.2%.
Mr Lejeune went on to present valuable insights into broader
industry trends, drawing on the activities of the industry
trends sub-committee, delivering impressions from
‘outsiders looking in’, and revisiting FINAT’s ‘Visions 2020’
statements from 2008 and prior FINAT events, using film and
broadcast clips to good effect. His talk covered the prime
forces at work in the label industry: market demands,
technology and innovation, corporate drivers and – of course
– sustainability. He showed how label print is now
intermingling with other parts of the packaging industry and
how packaging itself is becoming ‘the safe haven for
commercial print’ – creating a new dynamic in the industry.
He highlighted the strength and importance of the retailers’
‘private label’ brands today; identified industry challenges
such as the maturing nature of the market and the need for
radical technology developments; and showed how FINAT
can help its members manage their future and – quoting a
pharmaceutical packaging specialist from Switzerland –
‘know what you don’t want to do’ as well as what you do want
to do.
P
RESIDENT
’
S
ADDRESS
:
HIGHLIGHTS
ON
FINAT
’
S
BUSINESS
AGENDA
The programme continued with the 2012 FINAT General
Assembly, opened by President Kurt Walker. In his address, he
thanked the congress sponsors and all the FINAT volunteers
and their companies, without whom ‘it would be impossible to
DEFINE an agenda, let alone EXECUTE it, in this complex and
extended value chain.’ He went on to highlight FINAT’s
achievements since the last congress, pinpointing the
establishment of the cross-functional Board sub-committee on
sustainability and recycling, which is working with FINAT
material supplier members in particular to assist and promote
the companies who are offering real, practical recycling
solutions for release liner, in the areas of cradle-to-cradle and
re-use. This sub-committee is ably partnered in the Technical
Committee by a new sub-committee on sustainability. Mr
Walker also drew delegates’ attention to the new FINAT leaflet
on the available commercial recycling platforms for spent
release liner, which may be downloaded from the FINAT
website, www.finat.com.
On sustainability issues, he added: ‘We need to build an
industry supply chain network that can facilitate waste
COLLECTION for recycling… And that must involve the brand
owners and retailers who, as the recipients of the finished
labels, would be key players in the network.
Two other major strategic initiatives within FINAT – the Young
Managers Club and the re-established membership
development committee – are, said Mr Walker, driving FINAT’s
future growth and the self-adhesive label industry’s continuing
success. He applauded the Marketing Committee’s
restructuring with focused topic-specific sub-committees,
including the new industry trends committee which is, he said,
‘developing FINAT’s capabilities as an industry support
association; creating a working matrix for member feedback;
monitoring and analysing market and technical trends;
benchmarking and best practice; and, of course, sharing this
invaluable information with the FINAT membership.’
Mr Walker also drew attention to many other practical
achievements, such as the many initiatives in the regulatory
affairs arena – which are delivering practical results in relation
to the EU’s Packaging Waste Directive’s definition of release
liner as process, as opposed to packaging, waste; the continuing
development of the FINAT Test Methods, especially in parallel
with digital label print; the successful conclusion of the 25th
Technical Seminar last March in Barcelona; and the ongoing
activities of the L9, the international network of regional label
associations around the globe, which is opening new doors for
the industry.
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FINAT YEARBOOK
2013
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