Paper liner recycling: leading wine labeller embraces the benefits

Krämer Druck is one of the biggest wine label printers in Germany, located in the Moselle valley at the heart of one of the country’s largest wine-producing regions. Krämer Druck supplies to thousands of customers — not only in the German home market, but in France, Luxembourg and the UK. This significant label printer recycles bottlers’ as well as its own siliconized paper liner waste through the RafCycle® waste management concept.

Ecological and financial aspects bond printer and bottlers

“If you take into account continually rising costs from energy use and waste disposal, the liner recycling will be a profitable investment for us,” acknowledges business economist and third generation in the family owned business, Christian Krämer.

After opting into RafCycle, Krämer Druck made some initial investments in a modified suction system and a designated storage area for their liner waste.

Krämer says these efforts will pay off in the long term. And in addition to sending their own liner waste for recycling, the company also collects spent release paper from their biggest wine-bottling customers.

“I’m confident our customers will value and be drawn by these ecological and financial aspects to the liner recycling – encouraging them to continue working with us.”

Long-term sustainable business

The liner waste is removed directly from Krämer Druck’s printing process, shredded and collected in transportation bags. UPM picks up the waste and transports it to the de-inking plant at the UPM Plattling paper mill in Germany.

The waste liner is re-used in the production of new paper products, and this process can be repeated multiple times for each fibre in a ‘closed-loop’ system which recycles paper back into paper.

Christian Krämer sees value beyond the direct financial benefits: “As a medium-sized business, we conduct our operations with a view to the long term and to achieving sustainability. In our company, we have a duty to the environment, to our employees, to our customers and to future generations.”

Liner disposal costs recycled away

Through UPM Raflatac’s RafCycle concept, label printers, packers and brand owners have the opportunity to partner with UPM to recycle used paper release liners.

Rather than incur costs from disposal by incineration or landfill, the release liner is sustainably de-siliconized and processed back into pulp raw material for UPM’s paper products. Paper liner recycling through RafCycle is open for all companies in the labelling value chain in Europe.

Find out about paper liner recycling through RafCycle – how it works, and how to get started.

• Press release: Paper release liner recycling open to all