How to Sustainably Dispose of Label Liners

The liner of a label has a dual purpose, it protects the label during transport and allows multiple labels to be wound onto a roll without sticking to each other or destroying the adhesive. This is a result of a layer of silicone in the liner that allows the label adhesive to easily peel away. Unfortunately, this layer of silicone prevents the liner from being recycled via normal means, which results in sending label liner to landfills.

The good news is that there is another option for the disposal of these liners, and it is much more environmentally friendly!

 

Step 1: Define Type and Volume

The first step in this sustainable process is understanding your liner type and volume. This entails knowing what type of liner you use and how much volume, width and footage of liner you consume. This is easy to determine if you are able to weigh a roll and then figure out how many rolls you have per month. The last thing you need to determine for this step is if you have a place to store this liner waste, and if so how much you can store.

 

Step 2: Segregation

Reclaimed liner must be contaminant free and separated from other materials and substrates. There also must be less than 2% of labels or substrate left on each roll.

 

Step 3: Packaging Methods

For paper liners with over 5” width rolls, wind the liner waste onto a core and stack them neatly on skids. For paper liners with under 5” width rolls, or hard to rewind rolls, store these liners in thick Gaylord boxes without the core, wound onto itself.

For film liners, wind the liner waste onto itself, without a core, and store in thick Gaylord boxes as well.

 

Step 4: Collection

A variety of companies offer programs to collect and reprocess release liners, all you have to do is reach out!

A list of some of these companies along with their website pages are found below:
· For PET Liners – Mitsubishi Polyester Film, Inc.
· For paper and film liners – Channeled Resources Group
· For film liners – Custom Polymers
· For film liners in the Southeast – Commercial Plastics
· For paper liners in Canada – Hanna Paper
· For paper liners in the Midwest – Paper Recovery
· For paper and film liners in California – Allan Company

 

For more information on this topic read this TLMI flyer or Reach Out today!