Release Liners - A Shrinking Violet?

Is the increased use of shrink labels affecting the use of release liners? Release liner manufacturers say no and offer different reasons why pressure-sensitive labels are the way to go.

ONE THING IS certain, your typical consumer doesn't give any thought to release liners as he or she travels up and down the packed isles in the local grocery store. But package printers know that release liners are a very important component in the world of labeling, one that can impact their bottom lines. packagePRINTING spoke to some release liner manufacturers to see what's new and what impact the growing use of shrink labels is having on the release liner market.

P.S. Honey I shrunk the label

Competition can be healthy when viewed and dealt with in the correct way. What would the price of gasoline be without competition? What would a personal computer cost, and would its performance be anywhere close to what it is today?

But competition, by nature, doesn't always run in everyone's favor all the time. For instance, it seems to some release liner manufacturers, but not all, that their customer base (the consumer product companies) is moving away from pressure-sensitive (p-s) labels to shrink labels. This may be true to a certain degree, but release liners still play a major role in the label market, especially in applications like roll labels, overlaminates, beverage and pharmaceutical labels, health and beauty aids, and toiletries and cosmetics. And that's just in the package-printing industry. Other release liner markets include decals and graphics, industrial (such as in tapes and sealants), and the medical field.

Shrink labels have their own laundry list of qualities that make them an attractive choice, says Jim Casey, vice president of FLEXcon. "On the plus side, shrink labels offer more 'real estate' than most p-s label products—that is, surface area for graphics—since they usually cover 100 percent of the container. That does allow for large, high-impact graphics."

But Casey also offered many points in favor of p-s labels, which, of course, necessitate release liners. "Pressure-sensitive labels can be produced at a rate of up to 800 labels per minute, while shrink sleeves are produced at a slower line speed. The faster line speed of p-s labeling products is a productivity advantage," he said. "Overall, we believe that p-s films offer a superior, proven solution for the vast majority of primary and secondary labeling applications."

Some suppliers don't believe that the significant growth in shrink label work is taking away p-s label work. For instance, Joe Heinemann, president, Rayven Inc., said, "From our perspective, the increasing use of shrink labeling has not affected our label release liner business. We primarily supply film release liners which are used on film labels, especially ultra-clean film labels, which still appear to be a growth market. We have the ability to coat very thin films, which seems to be a growing niche in the label world."

Watch it grow!

As Heinemann already mentioned, p-s label manufacturers, and even their customers, are asking more frequently for thinner release liners, which the release liner manufacturers are more than happy to oblige. They are constantly developing new products to meet the demands of new market trends.

"There is a definite trend toward thinner substrates for release liners. This is being driven primarily by cost considerations, but there some productivity enhancements as well," said Heinemann. "Thinner label substrates may become more popular as well, but application machinery will have to be able to function with the thinner material."

Some of the trends, which really have been around in the industry for a while, include new recyclability rules and regulations. Because after a liner has been "released" from its duty, it's garbage. Today, companies are striving to make their liners more and more compliant with the latest, and also future, recycling regulations.

"Trade associations such as the Tag & Label Manufacturers Institute (TLMI), as well as FINAT in Europe, are getting input from the major players in our industry, and are working with governments to implement reasonable standards for our industry," said Casey. "One of the trends is that suppliers of release liners, especially film liners, have drastically reduced liner caliper to reduce total poundage of label material to be supplied, but with less waste generated from the liner by total weight. Release liner manufacturers and others in our industry are closely following developments to monitor and adjust to different rules for different regional markets."

Casey pointed out that cost also plays a factor in recyclability, for everyone from the manufacturer down to the end user. "As recycling regulations are formulated, freight is a big issue, given the ongoing, escalating transportation costs. If you as an end user have to transport your discarded liners over a great distance to a recycling facility, your expenses go up significantly. This is why local or regional solutions make the most economical sense to many people," Casey said.

Casey offered some suggestions of what to do with the waste materials. "Some companies are already finding interesting ways to recycle or reuse liners. For example, it turns out that release liners —both paper-based and film-based—make great fuel. Some end users have found buyers for their liner waste as a component for fuels or pellet-burning stoves. Other end users have found regional buyers for post-industrial polyester liner waste for certain uses. Overall, several efforts are underway in the areas of use, re-use, and recycling of release liners."

The coatings on the release liners are what seem to pose the biggest hurdle when trying to make the liners compatible with strict recycle regulations. "Silicone coatings on release liners can cause a problem with recycling, and the majority of the liner scrap is generated at the packaging locations and does not follow the end product into the marketplace," said Heinemann. "There is a good secondary market for previously used wide-web release liners, but most of the liner scrap generated by the label industry is too narrow to be reused. Rayven does offer a number of non-silicone release coatings that are more compatible with film (plastic) recycling efforts."

In the future

One important fact that everyone, not just converters, needs to keep in mind is the increasing cost of fuel. This will affect the cost of virtually everything, but not always at the same level. As it seems, p-s labels with a release liner, may be a less expensive choice as compared to shrink labels.

"The increasing prices for plastic films of all types (due to the high cost of oil) seems to be pushing manufacturers to investigate reduced-cost labeling solutions. Due to the high volume of plastic film used in the typical full coverage shrink label it may rapidly become a high-cost labeling solution and fall out of favor. Pretty packages are nice, but the big-box retailers seem to be primarily concerned with cost. Thus, film p-s labels with thin release liners may become the new low-cost solution," said Heinemann.

Casey is also noticing pronounced trends in the release liner industry, especially in the roll label film category. These include: "recyclability, thinner caliper, and the availability of two-sided coatings. Higher speed label applicators are becoming increasingly available, as are silicone-free release liners. Backside modifications to the liners are also on the upswing," he said.

by Megan Wolf

Assistant Editor