Busting More Myths about Print and Paper

UPM has received recognition from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for its exemplary forest management practices. The recognition was conferred by the Forestry General Direction of Uruguay as part of a National Workshop titled “Methodological Transfer of Exemplary Cases of Sustainable Forest Management”. The acknowledgement followed a thorough investigation of various aspects of the company’s production chain conducted by a panel of experts from the INIA (Agribusiness Research Institute), the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of the Republic of Uruguay and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences.

To help understand the full "label life" of their products, from the extraction of raw materials to delivery of finished label stock to customers, UPM Raflatac has collaborated with leading Brazilian converter Baumgarten on a life-cycle assessment (LCA) of label material release liners, with exciting results to report. These two frontrunner companies in the label value chain have adopted this voluntary guidance to assess - and reduce - their impact on the environment. The study will be publicly available at Labelexpo Americas in Chicago from September 13-15. Baumgarten began its LCA efforts with a foundational study comparing glassine (landfilled) and PET (recycled) release liners for a product it produces with UPM Raflatac label stock. Although PET liners are manufactured from petrochemicals, they are easier to recycle in Brazil than glassine liners. Additionally, because PET liners are thinner, they can yield more labels per roll and offer fewer roll changes on-press, allowing printers, converters and end-users to achieve greater productivity.

The new online forest certification system aims to provide a simple and cost-effective solution to assist the UK’s small and medium-sized private forest owners to become PEFC-certified. The new tool is designed to help increase the UK’s certified forest area and boost the supply of certified material to the UK primary processing sector and its customers. The online tool was launched at a special Press Lunch in central London during a rare UK gathering of major figures from PEFC, including PEFC International Chairman, William Street, and CEO Ben Gunneberg, to discuss key issues surrounding the global forestry, construction, paper and packaging industries. While PEFC forest certification has been established in the UK for five years, it has long been recognized that a cost-effective certification solution was required to enable smaller woodland owners to participate in certification.