Evonik Corporation achieves sustainability certificate

The RC Silicone group has successfully completed TLMI’s L.I.F.E. certification at their release coating production site in Hopewell, VA marking the first certification for a chemical supplier.

Sustainability in the label industry has become a major focus in the past few years. As a raw material supplier in the industry we see our customers striving to achieve higher integrity in the sustainable packaging arena. Goals are increasing to reduce CO₂ emissions, minimize raw material use and also to recycle the waste products being produced. The overall label sizes have scaled down to reduce both waste and transportation costs and linerless labels are growing at a rapid rate.

Our customers are getting more involved with groups such as TLMI’s (Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute) L.I.F.E. (Label Initiative for the Environment) program which is an annual audit program to promote & practice sustainability with specific focus on:

• Clean Production concerning releases into air, water and waste
• Reduction of energy use and releases of greenhouse gasses 
• Product designed to minimize waste and use of more sustainable materials 
• Overall best management practices to monitor performance and add innovation programs for constant improvement.

CPG companies are taking notice and becoming more engaged in sourcing “sustainable” packaging and labels. Our customers who have received the L.I.F.E. certificate have benefitted from this greatly when negotiating the sale of their products. For Evonik “What better way to support our customers and to continue to drive positive change in the industry then having our products and manufacturing facility included in the L.I.F.E program” notes Liz Patterson, Marketing Manager.

“Curing silicone under UV light requires substantially less energy inputs then the more traditional, thermally cured silicones and our release coatings do not require either harsh chemicals or solvents. It made perfect sense for Evonik to become the first release coating supplier to join the L.I.F.E. program.” The Evonik RC team hopes that the certification will be a benefit for our customers as well as driving a change for the industry pushing more suppliers to become involved.