UPM to commence in-house recycling for paper based release liners

(UPM Helsinki, 28 March 2012 at 11 EET) - UPM has developed a new in-house solution for recycling paper based release liner back into pulp and paper. Release liner is the siliconised backing material that is an essential part of self-adhesive labelstock until the printed labels have been taken into use.

Packers and brand owners can now have their used release paper recycled at UPM’s paper mill’s de-inking plant in Plattling, Germany, instead of sending it to incineration. At the UPM facility, the liner is de-siliconised and processed into pulp to be used as raw material for UPM’s paper products.

“This innovative solution serves the entire industry. We are very happy that our constant aims to minimise solid waste and maximise the reuse of raw materials are coming true also in the label value chain. With four million tonnes of recovered paper per year, UPM is the world’s largest user of recycled fibre in graphic papers and therefore we have access to various types of recovered papers – now also including release papers. This is truly one part of our Biofore thinking coming alive,” says Marko Haveri, Portfolio Manager, Fine and Speciality Papers.

UPM Plattling mill has a strong focus on sustainability. “We have invested in sophisticated processes for extracting fibres from demanding recovered paper fractions,” explains Operations Director Mika Kämpe. “Siliconised release paper is a natural expansion to our raw material base, and we are therefore able to offer a sustainable recycling solution to the self-adhesive label industry.”

This concept is  open to all companies in the labelling value chain. In line with its Biofore Vision, UPM is committed to developing sustainable recycling solutions for the industry. For example, this release paper recycling concept complements UPM Raflatac’s existing RafCycle® self-adhesive labelstock waste management concept.

Learn more:
UPM Blog: http://www.upm.com/EN/MEDIA/upm-blog/Pages/Label-papers-and-recycling-Is-there-a-value.aspx
 

For further information, please contact:
Mr Marko Haveri, Portfolio Manager, Business Development & R&D, Fine and Speciality Papers, UPM PBG, tel. +358 40 777 4484
Mr Mika Kämpe, Operations Director, UPM Plattling, tel. +49 9931 8960 6502
Mr Erkki Nyberg, Director, Business Development, UPM Engineered Materials (RafCycle), tel. +358 40 864 3204

UPM, Corporate Communications
Media Desk, tel. +358 40 588 3284
media@upm.com

UPM leads the integration of bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and pulp, Paper, and Engineered materials. The Group employs around 24,000 people and it has production plants in 16 countries. UPM's annual sales exceed EUR 10 billion. UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki stock exchange. UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.com

UPM Paper is the world’s largest user of recovered paper in the production of graphic papers. Recycled fibre represents one third of all fibre raw materials used in UPM’s paper production. Annually UPM consumes around 4 million tonnes of recovered paper in newsprint and in uncoated and coated magazine paper production.

UPM Plattling in Southern Germany is a mill site with three paper machines producing SC and LWC papers for magazine printing from mechanical groundwood and recycled fibres. The combined capacity of the Plattling mill is 800 000 tonnes/a. The mill site includes a de-inking plant, which is used to extract fibres from recovered paper. 

RafCycle ^® waste management concept
UPM Raflatac, part of UPM’s Engineered Materials Business Group, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of self-adhesive label materials. UPM Raflatac's waste management concept RafCycle offers sustainable recycling solutions for the by-products and waste generated throughout the lifecycle of self-adhesive labelstock. This includes process waste from UPM Raflatac’s laminating and slitting operations, matrix and start-up waste from label printing and converting, and liner waste from label dispensing. Through RafCycle, recycled waste is given a new life as UPM ProFi^® wood-plastic composite products, energy or paper. www.rafcycle.com