A partnership for release liner recovery has been formed by UPM and the French subsidiary of Aliplast, Italian specialist in the collection and treatment of recovered plastics 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 like drinks bottlers and companies from the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. It collects the bags regularly and directs them to its two sorting centres near Strasbourg and Lyon. After sorting, the waste is transported to its final place of re-use.
PP liners, including UPM Raflatac's ProLiner PP30, are re-used as raw material in the manufacture of wood-plastics 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 fibre re-use. They are re-pulped and de-siliconized, and the pulp is used for papermaking at UPM's paper mills.
