Labels matter when it comes to sustainability How UPM Raflatac is working towards a sustainable future

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When choosing a product in a store — a box of fruit, a bottle of shampoo or a can of paint — labels matter. A label tells us what the package includes, what the product is for and how it

was produced. Without labels, it would be impossible to differentiate one product from another or even convey basic information to consumers. Labels also affect the way the product looks and stands out in the store. Ultimately, the decision to buy or not buy a certain product comes down to the label.

Despite labels being everywhere, we rarely pay much attention to their impact on our environment. For many, they are an integral part of packaging, which unfortunately means that labels tend to share the same fate as the rest of packaging waste. Hence, labels create a sizeable but too often unseen waste stream. As part of a package, they are dumped in landfills, incinerated or washed off in the recycling process.

Mismatching labels and packages can significantly impact the sustainability of packaging. For example, the wrong label on a plastic PET juice bottle can reduce the recycling yield, adding to the waste problem our planet is facing. With the simple choice of the right kind of labelling, brand owners

can significantly reduce the lifecycle environmental impact of their products.

With the simple choice of the right kind of

labelling, brand owners can significantly reduce

the lifecycle environmental impact of their products.

3 White Paper | UPM Raflatac - Labels matter when it comes to sustainability

When the sustainability of a shampoo bottle or a can of paint is considered, the environmental impact of the package

should be investigated at each stage of its lifecycle — from raw material sourcing to production and end-of-life. And in this cycle, labels play a key role.

A number of forward-thinking companies have already begun ambitiously working to make their packaging more sustainable. For example, many of our customers, including Unilever, have partnered with UPM Raflatac to understand the environmental impact of labels through their entire lifecycle. This unique collaboration has resulted in the most comprehensive life-cycle assessment in the industry today — a great example of how supply chains can work together to develop more sustainable label solutions and thus further reduce the environmental impacts of packaging.

The process of reducing environmental impacts begins at material sourcing — by choosing sustainably sourced raw materials and responsible suppliers. To recognize efforts in sustainability for both the environment and society, UPM Raflatac recognizes one of its suppliers with the Label Life Award every second year.

Sustainable choices matter at every stage

A number of forward-thinking companies

have already begun ambitiously working to make their packaging

more sustainable.

Over 80% of the environmental impacts of boxes, bottles, cans and other packaging can be determined at the design stage. Proper design considerations enable brand owners to use less water, consume less energy and reduce

carbon emissions. The most important decision is to design recyclable packages, and so the correct label choice matters.

Packaging material should always be matched with the right label material — for example, paper labels should be paired with paper or cardboard and film labels with plastic.

At the production stage, optimizing material use and using sustainable materials can help brand owners increase their sustainability efforts even more — and often create a competitive advantage. For example, Procter & Gamble Asia Pacific partnered with UPM Raflatac to create PE 65, the thinnest squeezable PE film label material for their shampoo bottles and other plastic packaging. PE 65 not only opens new possibilities for labelling, but also has beneficial environmental impacts, with 11% lower greenhouse gas emissions, 6% less water consumption and a 9% reduction in energy use during its lifecycle compared to previous, thicker PE film materials.

White Paper | UPM Raflatac - Labels matter when it comes to sustainability 4

Another example is MUS Verpakkingen, a supplier of metal packaging and closures. Together with UPM Raflatac, they tested a new PE film material

made from sugarcane ethanol with more than 80% renewable plant-based raw material content. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions and is recyclable – benefiting both the environment and the consumer buying the can of paint. After the paint or other contents have been used, the packaging material’s life should not end. Brand owners have to ensure that their packages are able to re-enter the production cycle as new raw materials. Innovative companies like Italian winemaker Masi Agricola have already implemented this approach with the help of UPM Raflatac’s RafCycle solution. Thanks to this service, the winemaker’s release liner can be transformed from a waste product into a resource. Label waste collected from RafCycle partners will have a new life as magazine paper, paper liner, composite material or energy.

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Ensuring that the lifecycle of products reduces negative environmental impacts is a good objective, but for us at UPM Raflatac, it is not ambitious enough. To gain real benefits for nature, we must aim for

net positive solutions.

This can mean, for example, sourcing from certified sustainably managed forests, where logging sites are replanted after felling, valuable habitats are protected and the benefits of the carbon and water cycles are maintained. This is the key idea behind UPM Raflatac’s Forest Positive concept. In a joint study with the Finnish Environmental Institute, the source forests for the Forest Positive RAFNXT+ range were found to absorb up to twice the amount of CO2 emitted during the label's lifecycle. With its zero-deforestation impact and benefits for climate, water and biodiversity, RAFNXT+ demonstrates that it really is possible to make sustainable net positive choices.

Today, RAFNXT+ is used, for example, in partnership with FruitMasters to help the Netherlands' largest fruit supplier be even more sustainable. As the label range is 20% more carbon positive than a standard label and uses less paper, it has helped FruitMasters cut down both emissions and raw material use for their fruit boxes.

From reducing negative impacts to generating positive ones

To gain real benefits for nature, we must aim for net positive solutions.

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Ambitious companies want to have a real positive impact on the environment and enable truly sustainable productive life cycles. Radical actions are key to achieving these ambitious but

attainable goals. First, to understand the environmental impacts of our products and how we can reduce negative ones, we need data. And when data is shared throughout the value chain, then consumers, designers, and businesses can make wiser decisions. For example, UPM Raflatac’s Label Life tool helps customers see the effects of each labelling product, providing key details about environmental performance. Second, new innovations are needed. Companies that want to gain true sustainability have to develop state-of-the-art solutions that improve our world, which is also one of UPM Raflatac’s key targets. As we are focusing on creating circular solutions, we pursue thinner, lighter, recyclable and bio-based products that benefit both businesses and our planet. Finally, collaboration is fundamental, as no one can solve a challenge this big alone. Cooperation between companies, governments, NGOs and communities is needed to reach a more sustainable future. Ellen MacArthur’s Circular Economy 100 programme, which gives organizations a chance to take a step forward in pursuing a circular economy, is a great example of this. UPM Raflatac has joined the programme, as we aim for truly sustainable production and believe it is achievable by networking with similarly forward-thinking peers. At UPM Raflatac, our ambitious purpose is to get all participants of the value chain to participate in ensuring a sustainable future for our planet. This is a goal that every company should be proud to display on its labels.

Radical actions for the environment are a must

White Paper | UPM Raflatac - Labels matter when it comes to sustainability

• Case Masi: A label of sustainability – Italian winemaker joins UPM Raflatac’s RafCycle®. UPM Raflatac. 2013.http://assets.upmraflatac.com/Lists/RelatedMaterials/EMEA%20English/Related%20materials/UPM%20Raflatac%20Case%20Study%20Masi.pdf

• Case Unilever: Designing tomorrow’s labels – Unique partnership across the supply chain. UPM Raflatac. 2013.http://assets.upmraflatac.com/Lists/RelatedMaterials/EMEA%20English/Related%20materials/UPM%20Raflatac%20 Case%20study%20Unilever.pdf

• Creating a Forest Positive Future. WWF. 2017.https://www.worldwildlife.org/blogs/sustainability-works/posts/creating-a-forest-positive-future

• ForestPositive. UPM Raflatac.http://forestpositive.upmraflatac.com/

• Label Life. UPM Raflatac. 2018.http://www.upmraflatac.com/emea/en/solutions-and-services/services/label-life

• Label recycling and the circular economy in action: RafCycle. UPM Raflatac. 2018.http://www.upmraflatac.com/emea/en/sustainability/sustainable-label-solutions/rafcycle

• PE 65 – our thinnest, squeezable PE film. UPM Raflatac. 2017.http://www.upmraflatac.com/apac/en/news/details/pe-65-%E2%80%93-our-thinnest,-squeezable-pe-film

• Responsible sourcing. UPM Raflatac. 2018.http://www.upmraflatac.com/emea/en/sustainability/sustainable-value-chain/responsible-sourcing

• The circular economy – time to be radical! UPM Raflatac. 2018.http://www.upmraflatac.com/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=95eb974a-18fc-4d36-a2ac-d04ccc8f03b9&ID=4&Web=29bb60c6-2a47-429b-b083-d5c06cb4db0d

• The shape of sustainable labels is circular: UPM Raflatac announces APR-recognized wash-off film labels with recycled liners for Americas and Asia Pacific. UPM Raflatac. 2018.http://www.upmraflatac.com/na/en/news/details/upm-raflatac-announces-apr-recognized-wash-off-film-labels-with-recycled-liners-for-americas-and-asia-pacific

• UPM Raflatac and Mus Verpakkingen collaborate to test a biobased film solution for can labelling. UPM Raflatac. 2017. http://www.upmraflatac.com/emea/en/news/details/upm-raflatac-and-mus-verpakkingen-collaborate-to-test-a-biobased-film-solution-for-can-labeling

Furtherreading

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