Sustainability is more than a trend. It is important to treat resources and the environment with respect. For many consumers, it is no longer enough for the product itself to be sustainable.

Demand for sustainable solutions is also increasing in the areas of packaging, shipping and labeling. Especially in times when more and more people are shopping online and thus more packaging material is needed, the switch to more environmentally friendly labels is worthwhile.

But what are sustainable labels? And what are the advantages of labels that have been produced sustainably? In this article, we explain everything you need to know about sustainable labels.

What are sustainable labels?

Sustainable labels are products that can be well recycled, for example in the form of composting or recycling. A label consists of three parts, namely the face material, the adhesive and the backing material. If you can compost the label, the greenhouse gas emissions for the label can be reduced.

For this, two components must be suitable for composting: the face material and the adhesive. There is also scope in the backing material to make the life cycle of the label more sustainable. You'll get more information on all these components in the next sections.

What materials are sustainable labels made of?

An important component that helps determine the sustainability of the label is the face material. This is the part that is printed with the desired message, for example the design for your product packaging. Conventional labels can use many different raw materials as the face material, for example a film made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyethylene (PE), from paper or from a combination of these.

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Sometimes a varnish is applied to protect the surface or to create a noble effect. Not all of these materials and material combinations are equally recyclable and only a few can be composted.

Only if the face material of your label is made of a recyclable or compostable material can it be recycled in a sustainable way. A useful feature, for example, is if the face material can be recycled together with the paper of the packaging via the waste paper system.

This means that your customers do not need to detach the label from the packaging and dispose of it separately for recycling. Instead, the entire packaging, including the label, can be placed in the waste paper. This is convenient for your customers and thus increases the likelihood that the recycling system will be properly utilized. Furthermore, there are labels that are fully compostable.

Sustainable labels can be made from various natural raw materials. Often it is a vegetable and therefore renewable base. Examples of sustainable raw materials include:

• Grass fiber
• Stone powder
• Pulp
• Sugar cane
• Wood pulp (cellulose pulp for the production of cellophane)

In addition, labels are also made from recycled waste paper. Some of these raw materials can be used to produce not only various papers and paper-like materials, but also biodegradable plastics.

These are special plastics that can be returned to the natural cycle via compost, for example. You can recognize labels that can be demonstrably composted industrially by the Keimling logo in accordance with EN 13432, among other things.

Even organic plastics that are advertised as compostable can prove this property with the Keimling logo. The certification is carried out independently by DIN Certco and gives you certainty.

Another contribution to sustainability is the use of face material made of thinner paper. This already saves raw materials, energy and water directly during production. Printing inks also play a role: They should also be compostable and sustainable.

The backing material is a paper that is often coated with silicone so that the label can be easily removed. Actually, this combination material belongs in the residual waste and should not be given to the waste paper. This means that this component of the label itself cannot be classified as sustainable.

Once the label has been peeled off, however, the backing paper can still be recycled with a little extra effort. For this, it must be collected separately after use.

Recycling is most successful when the backing material is not mixed with other paper waste, otherwise you would have to sort the paper scraps first. The reason for this is that the silicone coating, which is so important for processing the label, must be removed before the paper can be reused, for example to manufacture new products from recycled paper.

What is the importance of the adhesive for compostability?

The adhesive is an irreplaceable component of labels. It ensures that the printed label adheres securely and reliably to its destination: regardless of whether the label is to be applied directly to a glass bottle, a tube, a can or a shipping carton: It can't be done without adhesives. Humans have been making adhesives for thousands of years.

There are archaeological findings that show that the Neanderthals, who are related to us, used pitch made from birch bark as early as 45,000 years ago to build tools and weapons from various materials. Since then, many adhesives have been invented from a wide variety of starting materials.

The problem we face today: There are many adhesives that, while ideal for bonding labels, are neither sustainable to produce nor biodegradable. They remain a problem when it comes to recycling labels and packaging. This makes full recycling of packaging impossible and contributes to our packaging waste problem.

A sustainable label has therefore only earned this name if it is wetted with a sustainable adhesive. Today, there are various adhesives that can meet this requirement, such as water-based adhesives or adhesives that make it much easier to remove labels and thus separate waste.

Many adhesives are neither sustainably produced nor biodegradable and therefore remain a major problem when recycling labels and packaging.

What are the advantages of sustainable labels?

There are many advantages to labels that are produced according to environmentally friendly principles. Not only the environment benefits, but also consumers and companies have various advantages when labels are sustainable.

Advantages for the environment

Sustainable labels make an important contribution to making packaging and shipping materials more available for the fullest possible circular economy. After all, if the packaging can be fully recycled or composted, less problematic waste is generated.

Labels that can only be disposed of with residual waste usually end up in thermal recycling - that is, they are incinerated in a Waste incineration plant burned.
With this go valuable raw materials irretrievably lostinstead of being recycled and used in the circular economy. In contrast, sustainable labels make a small but important contribution to avoiding waste.

In addition to reducing waste, the raw materials from which the labels are made also play a role. While conventional labels partly rely on finite resources based on petroleum, sustainable labels do without. Renewable raw materials are used, most of which are plant-based.

In some cases, even plant waste materials generated in other production processes are used. Sugar cane ethanol can be used to produce a film that functions exactly like conventional PE film. Sugar cane ethanol is a waste product from rum production. Thus, no new resources are consumed, but a material that is produced anyway is further processed.

Advantages for consumers

Consumers are increasingly concerned about the consequences of their consumption. On the one hand, environmentally conscious consumers are paying more attention to whether the product itself was manufactured sustainably and in a way that conserves resources.

On the other hand, the packaging of a product is also playing an increasingly important role - and that includes the labels that are applied to the product and its outer packaging.

Environmentally conscious consumers appreciate being able to reduce packaging waste, for example by using packaging that is as plastic-free as possible, fully recyclable or even compostable, with sustainable labels.

The ability to choose a product with sustainable labeling and packaging helps consumers pursue their desire to live a more environmentally conscious lifestyle.

Thus, sustainable labels contribute to consumers having a positive feeling when purchasing the product. It conveys the message that through conscious consumption one can make one's own small contribution every day to the better management of our natural resources.

Advantages for companies

For a company, contributing to the sustainable use of valuable resources is also important. If you use labels regularly in your business, switching to a sustainable product makes a small but important difference.

That's because switching to sustainable labels has a direct positive impact on putting less non-recyclable packaging waste into circulation.

Are you targeting environmentally conscious, sustainable people? Or you want to steer the image of your company in a responsible and environmentally friendly direction?

Then you can use your company's sustainable actions to generate awareness among your target audience and communicate your sustainable message, for example, with a reference to the compostability of the packaging.

For more information on sustainability in label and packaging manufacturing, visit our blog!

Conclusion

Packaging waste is a concern in this age of growing online commerce when poorly recyclable labels are used. But there are already sustainably produced labels that can be used as an alternative to conventional stickers.

This allows companies and consumers to choose a sustainable option that conserves resources and reduces residual waste. Sustainable adhesives make a major contribution to packaging, including labels, even becoming fully compostable through industrial waste recycling.

In the future, there is the prospect of labels including adhesives also being certified for composting at home. Then people for whom sustainability is very important could return such labels directly to nature's cycle on their home compost and thus ensure themselves that their packaging waste is recycled in the best possible way.