UPM, Aliplast Cooperate for Release Liner Recovery in France

UPM, Finland, announced that it will cooperate for release liner recovery with the French subsidiary of Aliplast, an Italian company specializing in the collection and treatment of recovered plastic films. The partnership expands Aliplast's recycling services to polypropylene (PP) and paper-based release liners through UPM Raflatac's RafCycle® waste management concept. Aliplast now collects, sorts, and distributes all types of release liner to different recycling processes, avoiding landfill or incineration.

Large collection bags are installed by Aliplast for use by self-adhesive label end-users such as drink bottlers and companies from the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. Aliplast collects the bags regularly and directs them to its two sorting centers near Strasbourg and Lyon, France. After sorting, the waste is transported to its final place of re-use.

Polypropylene liners, including UPM Raflatac's ProLiner PP30, are re-used as raw material in the manufacture of wood-plastic composite products at the UPM ProFi® factory in Bruchsal, Germany. Other wrapping films are recycled into various packaging products by Aliplast Italy.

Aliplast also collects paper-based release liners for fiber re-use. The recovered paper liners are re-pulped and de-siliconized, and the pulp is used for papermaking at UPM's paper mills.

Through the partnership with Aliplast, UPM Raflatac has extended the reach of its RafCycle concept to even more label end-users. This unique service, UPM notes, provides a sustainable solution for recycling paper and film release liners, reducing the environmental impact and bringing down waste management costs. UPM Raflatac, part of UPM's Engineered Materials business group, is one of the world's top suppliers of self-adhesive label materials.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/