Knowledge

Guide to Label Wind Direction for Your Custom Labels

The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Label Wind Direction for Your Custom Labels

Custom label production is a highly detail-oriented process. You will need to know if your label is being applied by hand or by machine. If by hand, label wind can be in any direction of your choosing. If by machine, then you must have this information exactly correct or this will cause application issues that will affect production.

You will need to know 2 key pieces of information:

  • The label wind direction is also known as copy position or run direction.
  • Label Wound In or Wound Out.
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What’s New

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Enable recyclability with sustainable labeling solutions

Discover the benefits of using recyclable label materials that are compatible with various packaging types and recycling processes

Today, packaging recyclability is not just a nice-to-have; it is an essential part of sustainable packaging. Governments and organizations are acting and setting ambitious recycling targets that significantly impact companies. The EPA has a goal of a 50% U.S. national recycling rate by 2030.

As a converter or a brand owner, you may wonder how to enhance the recycling of your product packaging with the right recyclable label materials and adhesive choices. You may also want to avoid greenwashing and demonstrate your genuine commitment to sustainability. That’s where UPM Raflatac can help you.

UPM Raflatac is a leading global supplier of sustainable labeling solutions that enable recyclability and support the circular economy. UPM Raflatac offers a wide range of recyclable label materials for various packaging types, such as PET, HDPE, PP, cardboard, paper, glass, and aluminum. UPM Raflatac also provides expert advice and tailored solutions to help you choose the best label material and adhesive for your packaging recycling stream.

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What is the impact of labels on packaging recyclability?

Your packaging label can play a vital role in enhancing the recyclability of your product packaging, hence playing a critical role in sustainable packaging. The primary packaging component determines the recycling process, and the self-adhesive label should be compatible with that process or removed before recycling.

The better the recycling compatibility is between the label and the packaging, the better the recyclability and recycling yield of the entire packaging tends to be. Your label material and adhesive choices have the power to make a difference.

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How to find the right sustainable label materials for your product?

UPM Raflatac has developed a comprehensive portfolio of sustainable label materials that enable recyclability and reduce environmental impact. These include:

  • REDUCED solutions to help you use the most resource optimized products which help to lower environmental impact,
  • RECYCLED materials to help you use less virgin fossil-based materials.
  • Materials made with verified sustainable and RENEWABLE resources.
  • Materials that advance packaging RECYLABLITY AND REUSE.
  • SERVICES: Utilize sustainability focused services such as UPM Raflatac's Life Cycle Assessment tool Label Life which can help you compare the impact of different label materials and aid in making more informed decisions

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How to design your label for recyclability?

There are many factors that can influence packaging recyclability. Everything from the label to inks, decorations, closures, and label size and coverage can influence whether a package can be recycled. What can be recycled, and what is recycled, often differ, so it is important to take a holistic approach and design for recyclability accordingly.

Why choose UPM Raflatac as your partner for sustainable labeling solutions?

UPM Raflatac is more than a label supplier, it is your trusted partner for sustainable labeling solutions that enable recyclability and support the circular economy. UPM Raflatac is committed to innovation and continuous improvement, investing in research and development to create new and better labeling solutions. A leader in sustainability, UPM Raflatac follows the highest standards of environmental, social, and governance performance.

By choosing UPM Raflatac as your partner, you can benefit from:

  • A wide range of sustainable label materials that suit your packaging type and recycling stream.
  • Expert advice and tailored solutions that help you optimize your label design and performance.
  • Reliable and consistent quality and service that meet your expectations and requirements.

Ready to make the switch to sustainable labeling solutions from UPM Raflatac? Contact us today and let us help you enable recyclability and achieve your sustainability ambitions.

To learn more about UPM Raflatac’s sustainable solutions, visit upmraflatac.com.

Credit: Article was extracted from Enable Recyclability with Sustainable Labeling Solutions
Author: The article is sponsored content provided by UPM Raflatac.
Copyright: © UPM Raflatac. This work is published on Label and Narrow Web and is intended to inform about sustainable labeling solutions.

Fun Facts

Gray Hulk – Green Hulk!
If it hadn’t been for a printing error, the Incredible Hulk would have only been gray.

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In the first edition of the Hulk comic, the color wanted turned out to be a mixture of various gray and even slightly greenish shades. On some pages, the Hulk appeared radiant with a bright and almost metallic complexion, while on others his skin was a much darker charcoal-gray. The colors used in the actual comic simply did not correspond to the original copies supplied by the colorist. The misprint can be explained: if in CMYK printing the color gray is desired but green is produced instead, it’s most likely because the press density was either too light on magenta or too heavy on a combination of cyan and yellow. In the first published edition, the Hulk’s skin at times had a greenish shimmer, it was decided to make the Hulk green for the second edition. And that is how things remained: in most reprints, the first-edition Hulk was touched up to make him green. Since the Hulk’s green skin has become so fundamental to the character, the misprint turned out to be serendipitous.

Credit: Article was extracted from link below with changes made
https://www.goethe.de/prj/mis/en/mit/21894695.html
Author: Stefan Kloo is the Online Editor at the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles.
Copyright: Text: Goethe-Institut. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
3.0 Germany License.

FAQs

Art → Proof → Approval → Print

Starting with artwork requirements – we require a high resolution vector based editable PDF ideally created and saved out of Adobe Illustrator.

Once approved, a Purchase Order is required to be provided to us in order to proceed with job into print production.

We are not a design house; you should incorporate any graphic design concepts you require in the artwork file.

We do custom label printing on various substrates serving industries such as Food & Beverage, Nutraceutical, Cosmetics, Health and others. Label types include pressure sensitive, sheeted, double sided, spiral, etc.

We will ask where the label is being applied – for example, glass, metal, plastic, cardboard etc.?

Quantity, substrate (film, paper, lamination) label size, shape, number of colors, run (wind) direction, etc.

Yes, we create a die for each shape and size.

No

No, we are a custom label print shop.

Yes, we can store inventory. There is an additional cost for this service. Storing inventory for too long a period of time is not very economical. Sometimes it might make sense, especially with digital printing, to print on demand the quantity needed at that particular time.

There are 3 separate industry certifications or standards recognized by the print community worldwide.

IFS HACCP (International Featured Standard - Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) – Third party certification that ensures we comply with food safety check any hygiene in daily operations.

G7 is a gray balancing procedure that ensures we have calibrated equipment and systems to produce consistent G7 proofs and print.

Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) have established Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances (FIRST) which provides technical information required throughout the entire supply chain to be in sync with industry standard for flexo print.