UPM Raflatac achieves APR Critical Guidance Recognition for HDPE container label materials

Suitable for food, home, and personal care applications

January 30, 2021

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UPM Raflatac recently announced that the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) has recognized its PE and PP pressure sensitive label materials with general-purpose acrylic adhesive for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) containers as meeting or exceeding the most strict APR HDPE Critical Guidance criteria for recyclability. Achieving this Critical Guidance Recognition is an important step in UPM Raflatac’s ongoing quest to label a smarter future beyond fossils.

These white and clear PP and PE label materials combined with multipurpose acrylic adhesives are part of UPM Raflatac’s SmartCircle portfolio of labeling materials that enable recyclability of packaging and promote the circular economy. The Critical Guidance Recognition means the label materials are proven to be compatible with standard HDPE container recycling practices. They are suitable for a variety of end-uses, including food and home and personal care.

“It is a great honor to achieve APR Critical Guidance Recognition for our PE and PP labeling solutions for HDPE,” says Oona Koski, manager, Sustainability, UPM Raflatac. “At UPM Raflatac, we adhere to the philosophy that ‘labels matter’ when it comes to enabling the recyclability of packaging materials. Brand owners looking to achieve their sustainable packaging targets for their HDPE containers can be confident when they select our labeling solutions.”

“The protocol is intended to help improve the quality of the recycled bottle stream by aiding innovators to make informed decisions about the consequences of packaging innovations. APR thanks UPM Raflatac for voluntarily submitting the labels for examination and recognition. The impact of this protocol is beneficial to worldwide recycling efforts. Meeting the Critical Guidance Document guidelines is truly a significant step in demonstrating overall recyclability of your PE and PP labels for HDPE bottles,” says Steve Alexander, APR president, and chief executive officer, in a letter to UPM Raflatac.

UPM Raflatac is leading in sustainable labeling through its self-adhesive label materials and services. It offers high-quality paper and film label stock for branding and promotion, informational labels, and labels with functionality. It operates a global network of factories, distribution terminals, and sales offices. The company employs around 3,000 people and made sales of EUR 1.6 billion (USD 1.8 billion) in 2019.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to the country-wide lockdown on 25 March 2020. It will be two years tomorrow as I write this. What have we learned in this time? Maybe the meaning of resilience since small companies like us have had to rely on our resources and the forbearance of our employees as we have struggled to produce our trade platforms.

The print and packaging industries have been fortunate, although the commercial printing industry is still to recover. We have learned more about the digital transformation that affects commercial printing and packaging. Ultimately digital will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future.

Web analytics show that we now have readership in North America and Europe amongst the 90 countries where our five platforms reach. Our traffic which more than doubled in 2020, has at times gone up by another 50% in 2021. And advertising which had fallen to pieces in 2020 and 2021, has started its return since January 2022.

As the economy approaches real growth with unevenness and shortages a given, we are looking forward to the PrintPack India exhibition in Greater Noida. We are again appointed to produce the Show Daily on all five days of the show from 26 to 30 May 2022.

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