Release liner recycling at Herma

Packaging Solutions

Last year, Herma avoided around 406 tonnes of CO2 emissions thanks to a special recycling programme for discarded siliconised release liner.

This averts considerable quantities of waste and compensates for the CO2 emissions of the company's vehicle fleet. Consistent recycling also helps counteract the continuing shortage of raw materials and curb price increases.

Because it contains silicone, paper release liner was regarded as unsuitable for recycling for a long time. But for many years now, it has been establishing itself as a sought after raw material. Despite being mostly discarded as waste, this material is ideally suited for recycling, which is not only climate friendly but also counteracts the continuing shortage of certain resources. For the eighth year in succession, self-adhesive materials expert Herma has equalised the CO2 emissions of its entire 78 vehicle fleet by collecting release liner for recycling. According to Cycle4Green’s (C4G) certification, the company has collected approximately 201 tonnes of discarded release liner from self-adhesive materials production for a special recycling process in 2018. With the help of Cycle4Green and the Austrian paper manufacturer Lenzing, this was then turned into label paper or release liner, both of which are reused by Herma. Manufacturing the same amount of product from virgin fibre would have increased CO2 emissions by 406 tonnes. By comparison, the family company's fleet only generated CO2 emissions of just under 400 tonnes.

‘By participating in this recycling programme, we not only make an important contribution to preserving the environment. We also somewhat counteract continuing resource shortages. Due to extreme demand in Asia, especially China, and continuing growth in Europe, we are facing continued resource shortages just like last year, for instance regarding paper,’ explained Dr Thomas Baumgärtner, managing director and head of the Self-adhesive Materials Division.

Since 2010, the company has been supplying discarded release liner from production to the specialist recycling company Cycle4Green.

Cycle4Green organises the collection of waste release liner in a large number of European countries. Lenzing, a pioneer of eco friendly paper manufacture, then undertakes the recycling. Cycle4green collects a minimum quantity of five tonnes of material from wherever it is generated anywhere in Europe, without costs being incurred. A precondition is that the waste is sorted into different materials. Approximately 360,000 tonnes of siliconised release paper is generated every year throughout the European Union, the bulk of which comes from within companies applying labels.