Page 1 - The HandPrint_May-June

May/June 2018

IN A WORLD OF PLASTIC, GOJO USES THINNER LABEL

RELEASE LINERS TO REDUCE PLASTIC USE

By Dylan Beach, Sustainability Specialist

You’ve probably noticed that most GOJO products have labels.
Labels provide important information, such as PURELL®
branding, ingredient composition, germ kill claims, and third-
party certifications. But we often don’t think much about what
the label is made of, and we probably think even less about the
release liner.

What is a release liner? A release liner is the carrier for the
label before the label is attached to the product. It is a paper or
Retrieved from: http://www.labelsi.com.my/wp- plastic-based sheet that is coated with a release agent, such as
content/uploads/2011/09/LabelColour.png
silicone, which allows the adhesive coated top layer to release
from the paper or plastic (see image to the left). GOJO implemented stage one of a project in March of 2017
to use a 23% thinner polyester (PET) release liner paired with the label for some of its components.

Let’s take a closer look at BS-00354, the base specification for back label
artwork on 8 ounce PURELL bottles. Within BS-00354 there are twenty-five
unique artwork material codes that have been updated. Between March 1 Inside this issue
and December 31, 2017 GOJO used 10.1 million of these labels. All of the GOJO Uses Thinner Label
labels came off a PET release liner, which would normally equal Release Liners…..……………….……….1
approximately 88,000 cubic inches of polyester. Getting Charged Up with
InnWoW……………...………………….2-3
Reduce that release liner’s thickness by 23% and you avoid SCENE Team…………...………………....5
approximately 20,000 cubic inches of PET. Expressed in square inches, Financial Forms.………..………………..5
this means about 17.1 million square inches less plastic will be used to Global IT Security Training ..…….….5
carry the same number of labels. That is enough to cover almost 3 Benefits—Traveling outside of the
football fields! Now, imagine how many football fields of plastic we avoid by country for non-GOJO busi-
thinning the release liner across all GOJO products. Next, we plan to ness…………………………………………...6
introduce this reduction to an additional four label sizes. Together we can Collapsible Bottle Blowing………..10
create Sustainable Value. GOTIP……………………………………….11

Special thanks to GOJO team members Jeanette Bogdanski, Patrick Brooks, Special points of interest
Matthew E. Fox, Steve Frankart, Mitch Fuhrer, Jonathan Johnson, Matthew
Kaeler, Mark Meneer, Sharon Miller, Dina Wiley, Donna Wolcott, and Employee Spotlight………….………...4
Madeline Zak who helped make this project possible. Employees on the Move..………..7-9
2018 Graduates…………………..12-14
Sustainability Fair.……………….15-16