Label paper customers and end users interested in the new liner recycling concept

(UPM, Helsinki, 28 September 2011) - UPM and the French company Vertaris have teamed up to develop a sustainable release liner recycling concept in Europe in the spring. The co-operation of UPM and Vertaris provides a more sustainable solution to recycle the used liner back into pulp and paper. Today, the majority of the used siliconised liner is mainly incinerated.

Vertaris developed a technology for de-siliconising paper-based release liner at their plant in Voreppe, France. The recycled liners will be processed into pulp at Vertaris’ plant, and the pulp will be used in paper production at UPM’s paper mills in Europe.

 “After the announcement in April there have been various service requests from the label end users and UPM’s direct customers for the collection of liner. UPM’s extensive recovered paper sourcing organisation is now at the stage of contracting the recycled liner volumes all across the Europe, “says Mr Marko Haveri, UPM Portfolio Manager of Business Development in Fine & Speciality Papers and Paper Products, R&D.

“We have a proven technology for making paper out of the recycled liner for fine and speciality paper end uses,” Haveri continues. “W e see that this concept fits perfectly to our Biofore strategy to promote the sustainable use of biomass. We have mobilized our strong sales network, extensive recovered paper sourcing organisation and our partners in both logistics and recycled liner processing to support the whole value chain with this initiative.”

For more information, please contact:
Mr Marko Haveri, UPM, Portfolio Manager, Paper Products, R&D, tel. +358 40 777 4484
Mr Federico Dossena, UPM, Head Pre-consumer recycled paper sourcing, tel. +39 0234617224

UPM Paper
Responsible, innovative and passionate about paper. Responsible means we are guided by sustainability in every aspect of our work, starting with the renewable and recyclable raw material used: wood. Innovative means commitment to continuous improvement, and listening sensitively to our customers’ needs. Passionate means dedication to the ongoing success of paper and print. We strive to be at the forefront of the industry, with a deep understanding of the market and the media, and outperforming cost efficiency.

UPM has 25 modern and sustainable paper mills in Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, China and the United States. Many of them are large recycling centres and bioenergy producers, as well as paper manufacturers. UPM Paper employs almost 14,500 people. In 2010, the business group’s net sales amounted to EUR 7.6 billion. To learn more, visit: www.upmpaper.com UPM – The Biofore Company.

Vertaris is a newly created 100% recycled pulp and graphic paper producer. It has a high end recycled pulp capacity of close to 200 000 tonnes at the Voreppe plant near Grenoble, France. Vertaris produces also a variety of recycled graphic and cut-size papers. VERTARIS – ensemble, preservons, valorisons - www.vertaris.eu