TAKEAWAYS
1. To offer RafCycle to all of their customers, big and small, ModTek acts as a storage hub
for release liner waste until sufficient volume is reached for pick up.
2. UPM Raflatac collaborates with their customers to enable the wider availability of RafCycle
release liner recycling service in the PSL sector.
Since the inception of his business in 2006, ModTek owner, Shawn Borman, has focused on running a responsible business offering consistent quality and service. This applies to both customer relationships and to ModTek’s sustainability actions.
Borman states, “We have always tried to be responsible when it comes to our carbon footprint, but the type of waste generated in this industry is really not eco-friendly.” Motivated by his desire to take action regarding release liner waste generated by pressure-sensitive label (PSL) production, Borman sought out help from UPM Raflatac.
UPM Raflatac has been enabling the recycling of release liner globally for more than ten years via their service, RafCycle by UPM Raflatac, which launched in the U.S. in 2018. When ModTek needed a recycling solution, RafCycle was a good fit aside from one caveat: ModTek didn’t produce enough release liner waste to qualify for this service. Borman had to get creative.
The ModTek team started to solicit their customers to gauge their interest in recycling their release liner. The response was an overwhelming yes!
Once Modtek understood the rules, they figured out how they could play the game. They offered to store smaller amounts of release liner waste at their facility, until there was enough volume for UPM Raflatac to pick up the waste and deliver it to their recycling partner.
To reinforce their support of this initiative, UPM Raflatac developed a program to give ModTek easy access to a select portfolio of labeling materials. This helps ModTek to service their customers in a timely manner and grow their business, while increasing RafCycle participation.
Greg Owen, Interim Director, Paper Laminates, UPM Raflatac Americas, states, “We’ve set a goal to enable our RafCycle partners to recycle 100 percent of their liner
waste via our program. We’re eager to support ModTek’s clever approach to make RafCycle available to brands that otherwise don’t have the volume or storage space to take advantage of our service.”
Currently, ModTek is collecting about 5000 pounds of release liner each month, between paper liner and PET liner. The relationship between ModTek and UPM Raflatac extends
beyond RafCycle. Borman states, “UPM Raflatac has some very strong engineering and troubleshooting support. We are confident when conferencing UPM Raflatac in with our
customers directly.”
ModTek and UPM Raflatac have shown that creative thinking and collaboration are making release liner recycling more wide-spread and accessible to brands of all sizes.