Page 18 - Print21 Magazine May-June 2021

Lables & Flexibles
Labelmakers keeps
recycling opportunity in Australia, with job creation and landfill diversion as the core of the program. Labelmakers will be focusing on the rollout across New Zealand in due course,” he says.
The collection of spent glassine liner from customer sites will be managed through a newly created department of the group, called Labelmakers Liner Recycling Services.
Enviroflex CEO Felicia Richardson says, “There are so many exciting facets to this new partnership but from a scale-up perspective, the insulation channels to market already exists so we don’t have the time lag associated with developing a new market or customer.
“We intend to commence manufacture in July 2021, meaning Labelmakers’ customers will be able to start to redirect their spent liner in the near term, and well in advance of the deadline for meeting the 2025 National Packaging Target deadlines,” Richardson adds.
Technology innovator RecuLiner says, “Labelmakers clearly understands the importance
of taking action to deliver real sustainability solutions for their customers. We are excited that our technology can help Labelmakers achieve its sustainability targets and trust this will be an example of excellence for the global label industry.”
In 2018, Labelmakers appointed
a group sustainability manager, Damian Smyth, to lead the group’s sustainability agenda and the company says this announcement is one of many it will be making in over the next few months. 21
liners from landfill
Labelmakers, the country’s largest label converter following the group’s recent acquisition of Rapid Labels, has secured the rights to use the globally patented RecuLiner technology in Australia and New Zealand to create a local solution for recycling glassine liner from pressure-sensitive labels, which would otherwise go to landfill. Lindy Hughson reports.
Recycling of glassine liner is a global problem and there are only a few locations around the world with the technology
required to remove the silicone from the glassine paper. This means that glassine liner has historically been banished to landfill.
To date, liner recovery has focused on collection and exporting to overseas markets, which Lablemakers says is “heavily emissions intensive”.
In Australia alone, and at an industry level, it is estimated that this translates to 10,000 tonnes of landfill associated with pressure- sensitive labels, according to Labelmakers.
Labelmakers says it has long held the position that a local solution is the only real solution and, to this end, has secured the RecuLiner patented technology for the region.
The RecuLiner technology allows the conversion of glassine liner
18 Print21 MAY/JUNE 2021
into insulation products for the commercial and residential building industry, with scope for other market applications as well.
To deliver the solution locally, Labelmakers has entered exclusive and long-term manufacturing arrangements by licensing the technology to fellow Australian business Enviroflex Commercial,
a leading provider, producer, and installer of insulation products.
“This is exciting for Labelmakers Group, RecuLiner, Enviroflex and the entire label industry because this aligns us and our customers with APCO’s 2025 National Packaging Targets for recycling and re-use of packaging materials,” says Adam Bamford, managing director of Labelmakers Group.
“We expect to start onboarding customers in July this year with scale-up planned over the next 12-24 months,” Bamford says.
“This local manufacturing arrangement will kick-start a new
Above
Local liner solution: Enviroflex CEO Felicia Richardson and Labelmakers group sustainability manager, Damian Smyth
Above right
Conversion: The RecuLiner technology recycles glassine liner into insulation products