At Labelexpo Europe 2023 (hall 5, stand C14), HERMA will present a versatile self-adhesive material for labels that, in terms of the emission balance sheet, temporarily binds even more CO2 than is emitted for its production.
The emissions balance has been calculated by the climate protection specialist myclimate, taking into account the cradle-to-gate approach and the final disposal phase. At the same time, its calculation method has been critically reviewed by Carbotech, an independent specialist in life cycle assessments.
“The cradle-to-gate alone approach does not take into account the utilisation and disposal phases as we have no control over them,” said Marcus Gablowski, Chief Sustainability Officer at HERMA. “Regardless of how the label is structured, the bound CO2 is released again when it is incinerated at the end of its life cycle. But if it is recycled, for example, the bound CO2 remains in the material cycle for longer. This once again underscores the importance of material recycling.”
The new adhesive 71N plays a decisive role in achieving a good emissions balance. HERMA has developed it in cooperation with BASF. According to the so-called biomass balance approach, the raw materials required for its production are partly based on biomass from organic waste instead of fossil raw materials. The appropriate plants have recently extracted the greenhouse gas CO2 from the atmosphere during their growth phase – a very welcome effect that is not available in fossil raw materials. As part of its certification, REDCert2 confirms that BASF actually replaces a defined proportion of fossil raw materials with renewable raw materials within its production processes.
“The main premise for us in the development of the adhesive was of course to retain the quality properties. We have established and proven this in many series of tests,” said Dr. Stefan Kissling, Head of Development of Adhesives and Special Coatings for HERMA’s Self-Adhesive Materials Division. “The new adhesive 71N has excellent adhesive properties and can be easily processed.”
