Re-play: here’s what springs from glassine recovery

Whenever a self-adhesive label is applied, the siliconized glassine liner reaches its end of life and turns into waste. Yet we are dealing with a high-quality material made up of the purest fibers with valuable mechanical properties. A waste of resources and value that prompted Fedrigoni Self-Adhesives to look for circular solutions that engage final customers in a positive process.
Re-play is our latest innovative one.

This premium range of self-adhesive materials signed Manter by Fedrigoni Self-Adhesives is the first example of upcycling in the labelling industry, based on a closed-loop recycling system. The siliconized glassine is collected by end users and taken back by Fedrigoni to create new high quality labels with the material re-entering the production phase as an integral part of the adhesive facestock. To recycle the collected glassine, the Group has sealed an exclusive partnership with Les Papeteries de Clairefontaine, which possesses a low-temperature repulping process powered by biomass. The glassine paper added to white wastepaper results in a high-quality product without needing de-inking processes and registering significant raw material savings. A true revolution which involves the end customer in a virtuous process.

Fedrigoni Self-Adhesives R&D has long worked to achieve a result suited to the company’s high quality standards: the Re-play range is made up of five types of 100% recycled papers with up to 15% glassine content. Available with different textures like uncoated, embossed, retro, and pearlescent, as well as in a neck label version, they are featured for their versatility, ranging from natural white to distinctive luminescences, and for the purity and print yield necessary for high-quality labels.

Since 2021 Fedrigoni has worked to develop an in-house LCA (Life-Cycle Assessment) tool to calculate the carbon, energy, and water footprint of products, based on the “from-cradle-to-gate approach”. Thanks to it, the impact of Re-play has been measured: compared to a self-adhesive material obtained from recycled cellulose using the traditional method with a de-inking process, Re-play reduces CO2 emissions by up to 45%, water use by up to 55% and energy use by up to 49%.

Just like Cinderella, from scullery maid to belle of the ball, waste is turned into facestock material for high-premium labels. Re-play signs a milestone into Fedrigoni Group’s mission, to be the partner of choice of brands, creatives, converters and printers by providing sustainable premium products and superior customer experiences.