“Challenge the status quo”: How the labeling industry is battling global energy and waste crises

07 Jun 2023 --- Energy and waste management crises are influencing labeling sector trends, with the industry juggling labor shortages and sustainability demands. These challenges are causing the implementation of legislation worldwide, with a spotlight on the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

PackagingInsights speaks to Gary Seward, managing director of Pulse Roll Label Products and Eliisa Laurikainen, business development manager of consumer goods at UPM Raflatac, about the balance between innovating labels while keeping up with global challenges.

Seward tells us that successful labels “challenge the status quo.” However, the industry is running into problems regarding energy use. “Cost efficiency is among the most prominent trends in labeling today. The rising business costs – particularly regarding energy – are driving converters to seek new sources of value within their organization.”

Laurikainen calls labels a “small yet mighty” part of a product’s packaging and says that “the planned PPWR is shaping the rules for packaging design.”

Pulse Roll Label Products’ PureTone ink can create any color using one anilox.Reducing energy
A notable trend across the labeling industry is reducing the energy required for manufacturing for ecological and economic reasons. Energy costs have been increasing as a cause of the war in Ukraine and consumers are becoming more aware of the negative environmental effects of energy usage, leading the labeling industry to reduce its energy usage.

“We’re seeing increasing interest in energy-efficient printing materials and techniques. For example, dual-cure UV LED inks allow printers to transition to more energy-efficient curing techniques on a press-by-press basis while removing challenges around ink inventory management,” asserts Seward.

“These inks offer rapid curing that uses just a fraction of the power of conventional UV lamps, potentially significantly reducing users’ energy bills.” Seward is also witnessing the rise of high-volume, complex, short lead-time jobs.

“As the tasks required of label printers become more complicated, we’re seeing more reliance on multiple spot colors and half-tones – making multiple anilox changes more common. With each changeover comes the potential for mistakes and waste, making it more important than ever to find ways to reduce waste and operate efficiently.”

From a design standpoint, Seward is seeing an increasing preference for bright, vibrant colors that ensure shelf standout in an “increasingly crowded landscape.”

Meanwhile, Laurikainen dubs recyclability the “dominant factor shaping developments within the packaging sector” due to the global climate crisis which she does not see shifting away.

Labor shortages
A challenge for Pulse Roll Label Products is finding adequate staffing as a cause of labor shortage.

“Staffing is among the primary challenges we have encountered this year, particularly when attracting and retaining new talent. To address this issue, we have opened a new staff academy, focused on providing training in areas where we have found it difficult to recruit,” says Seward.

On the other hand, Laurikainen from UPM Raflatac regards the biggest challenge in the labEliisa Laurikainen, business development manager of consumer goods at UPM Raflatac.eling sector as creating sustainable solutions that will meet all the requirements of new legislation, especially those evolving from the planned PPWR.

“However, while this may be a challenging process, the opportunities it presents are great. For example, substantiating sustainability claims for our products involves collecting concrete data, sharing a lot of information within the value chain and being transparent on the raw materials used, which reinforces our credentials in this regard.”

Legislation for labeling
Due to incoming legislation, all packaging used within the EU market will need to be recyclable by 2030. The discussion of how to define what kind of packaging is recyclable is central to the debate.

Laurikainen says the specific criteria for what is and is not considered recyclable are currently under development. “As labels are always an integral part of packaging, we must understand these requirements and their impact on labels.”

“Most likely, these new criteria will mean increased use of monomaterials, recycled content targets for plastics packaging and more reusable packaging. No matter what the preferred solution for reaching recyclability is, labels have a key role to play in achieving this.”

Consumers want sustainability, but they don’t want to be misled. Innova Market Insights flagged that environmental claims like “carbon impact,” “reduced packaging” and “plastic-free” on F&B packaging have almost doubled (92%) since 2018. However, the proliferation of sustainability messaging has created fears of unsubstantiated claims, which the market researcher dubs the “Green but clean” packaging trend.

Additionally, Catalpha found that 74% of consumers report honesty and transparency in product labeling builds consumer trust.

Ocean Action labels are made from “ocean-bound” plastics. Innovation in ink
Pulse Roll Label Products recently invested in growth through new products and processes.

“We pioneered the Monolox Fixed Anilox Printing process. This label printing system helps converters reduce waste time, materials and energy by installing one anilox volume to produce any spot color, saving time in choosing the right roll for each job and the associated press downtime,” explains Seward.

The key to the Monolox process is the chemistry of Pulse Roll Label Printing’s PureTone ink range. PureTone’s high-strength, single-pigment formulation can create any color using one anilox.

Earlier this year, Pulse Roll Label Products expanded the PureTone range with PureTone DC – a high-performance dual cure ink that works under LED and traditional UV curing lamps. PureTone DC helps converters switch to curing at a pace that suits them while being food packaging compliant.

Industry must “walk the talk”
Four out of five consumers say that they consider packagings’ sustainability in their purchasing decisions, Laurikainen tells us. “Creating labeling solutions that rely less on virgin fossil-based materials and increase overall sustainability and circularity has been our focus for many years.”

In line with UPM’s focus on ecological solutions for labels, the company has created the Ocean Action label and Forest Film. Ocean Action is the “world’s first” certified label material made from chemically recycled ocean-bound plastic through a mass balance approach. Forest Film is a 100% wood-based film label material made from the residue of the pulping process, from sustainably managed forests, through a mass balance approach.

“The power of the label extends far beyond functionality and can directly affect the sustainability of a product. Even if the main packaging material is recyclable, the label choice can greatly impact the overall recyclability. Using the wrong type of label can result in lower quality of recyclate and downcycling of valuable raw materials,” Laurikainen explains.

She continues that labels can not only communicate the recyclability of the packaging overall but the environmental sustainability of the label itself. “This can include messaging around the recyclability of a product and can even be a statement in itself, such as our Ocean Action Label.”

“The time for incremental improvements has passed and the industry must now walk the talk and act in line with the commitments made,” concludes Laurikainen regarding packagers’ claimed commitment to creating more eco-friendly solutions.

By Sabine Waldeck

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