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MARK MACARÉ
REPORTS
RELEASE LINER RECYCLING UPDATE
Where the first year of the reinstated Recycling Group had
been strongly focussed on creating a robust recycling portal
and information package – now available in 6 languages - to be
used to educate members and end-users, our focus has since
moved to reaching out and spreading the message.
FINAT
ACTIVITIES
Aside from the articles we’ve dedicated to sustainability and
recycling efforts in the media and the portal, we’ve presented
the case at various events. The past year alone has seen me
present release liner recycling at the AWA conference in
Amsterdam, as well as at the FINAT Technical Seminar, leading
to interesting discussions with the participants.
This year, I will be presenting at the AWA seminar ahead of
Labelexpo Europe, and we will have a more elaborate recycling
desk with the possibility of a panel discussion. Plans for the
2014 Technical Seminar are currently being formed, but
recycling is certain to be a topic of interest there.
Still, the panel discussion held at the FINAT conference in
Athens, where one of the major brand owners appeared
unaware of the current release liner recycling possibilities,
clearly goes to show that there is room and need for further
action on our part.
OUTREACH
–
GETTING
THE MESSAGE
OUT
THERE
While the speaking opportunities ‘inside the family’ are
valuable, we are pushing to reach further down the value chain
and outside of our traditional members, who are generally
well-aware of the importance of the topic.
Last year, I’ve attended the resource efficiency an waste
management conference in Birmingham as a start. This year, we
have identified a number of events where FINAT will have a
presence and preferably speaking slots until the end of this year.
One of the actions coming from the Technical Committee
meeting in Dublin early 2013 is to approach converters with the
information compiled so far, explaining what FINAT and the
self-adhesive label industry can offer their customers in
improving environmental performance an reducing waste.
Together with the converters, we can identify the most
effective ways of getting the message to the right people.
INDUSTRY
INITIATIVES
AND
CASE
STUDIES
The recent activities of the recycling group members and
FINAT members have been a great help in this regard,
strengthening the case for liner recycling. Over the last year,
we’ve seen new recycling solutions for paper release liner
introduced by UPM and Ahlstrom, while a growing number of
companies have joined these or the existing systems of
Cycle4Green and Channeled Resources. Other examples
include the active promotion of recycling by the VsKE to its
members and the start-up of the pilot system in Switzerland,
where leading label printers are helping customers and
retailers with collection of spent liner.
Acknowledging its importance to the self-adhesive label industry and the environment, the promotion of release liner
recycling has been at the forefront of FINAT’s activities for the last two years, when the FINAT Recycling Group was
reinstalled. While liner waste ultimately is generated at the end-user, our role is to make end-users aware of how they can
link with their label suppliers to deliver sustainability in terms of liner waste collection for recycling and reuse. In his role as
Recycling Group Project Manager, Mark Macaré presents an update.
AWA release liner seminar September 2011
82
FINAT YEARBOOK
2013
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