The year was 1066, the place was Hastings, the hail of wooden arrows cost King Harold his life and heralded in the Norman Conquest of England. Nothing quite so dramatic is likely to befall the European Commission or its president, Ursula von der Leyen, but Europe’s paper producers are up in arms. The cause is the Anti-Deforestation Directive, which should come into force on December 31of this year. In case any readers are not up to speed on Europe’s draft directives, the new rules would require companies, in particular paper mills, but also wholesalers, importers, and exporters of paper, to trace their products right back to the forest and provide geolocation coordinates, proving that no wood had come from areas deforested since December 2020. Ms. von der Leyen seems to have got the industry’s message and has intimated that she would like to propose a solution to break the deadlock. The latest compromise is to delay implementation to December 2025 for large companies and 2026 for smaller ones. Needless to say, Europe’s paper and packaging industries are still fighting the directive tooth and nail, though, not yet with arrows.

Nothing like a Dane

Using paper to pack liquids has a long history. Your correspondent remembers drinking milk out of paper cartons in his far-distant youth. But such packaging generally used a watertight non-paper lining, which makes recycling difficult. Now Denmark’s Paboco, working with its Swedish partner Blue Ocean Closures, has developed what it says is the world’s first market-ready paper bottle and cap.

“This entire package, including cap, has a total weight of less than 16 grams, with an HDPE barrier weighing below 2 grams. With the bottle’s thin barrier, the combined package is recyclable as paper packaging,” says Paboco’s Michael Michelsen. “And we confidently expect to see these bottles in consumers’ hands by early 2025.”

Paboco is also working closely with the Absolut Group, makers of vodka and gin, which no doubt explains why Paboco and Blue Ocean are in such high spirits.

Vista invests

In 1974, UK’s Vista Labels Ltd was founded by company chairman Don Grice, producing labels from humble premises in a Victorian mill in Stockport, Cheshire. Following rapid customer growth, Vista has operated from its purpose-built production center since 1981. Still family-owned and managed, and with a staff of 30, Vista has made substantial investments in both state-of-the-art inkjet digital and flexo technology.


Vista’s relationship with Mark Andy dates back to the company’s beginnings, with the then current 2200 and 4150 flexo presses. Both 10″, 8-color models are “great workhorses,” says production director Stuart Mellish. Later came another 10″, 8-color Performance Series press. Vista’s investments in recent years include $1.3 million in Mark Andy’s digital inkjet and toner print capabilities, as well as complementary digital finishing lines, enabling Vista to competitively offer small to medium print runs.

A French press manufacturer – one of the few operating worldwide

Anyone who knows anything about the world’s label equipment suppliers soon realizes that France is not one of the global heavyweights. GIC is one of the very small elite of French equipment suppliers to be well known on several continents. Its specialty is to design and make production lines for the creation and application of RFID labels. The “Taginnov converting line,” explains GIC director Franck Vitali, “can be composed of different modules to embed inlays in self-adhesive or board substrates, and can be completed with an inline test system and a non-stop rewinder.”

In the US (where GIC exhibited at Labelexpo in September this year), in China and North Africa, this manufacturer is surfing the RFID wave. “It’s no longer a niche technology,” says Vitali. Now that the big retail chains are finally starting to take the benefits of RFID seriously, the volumes will soon exceed anything you can imagine, enormously more than in the pharmaceutical and logistics sectors, where RFID tags are already well established.” 

In addition to its Taginnov range, GIC is the French agent for the Italian machine manufacturer Cartes. Several production lines have already been installed in France, in particular at the label printer LP21, on the Côte d’Azur. “We have been working with GIC for 25 years,” says Patrice Neri, managing director of LP21. “After a series of tests, we opted for a Cartes GT360, a processing line that combines the best of traditional and digital printing, with a Jet D screen in a multi-pass version that outperforms all conventional screen-printing units.”

Regarding the future of the label market in France, Franck Vitali of GIC describes it as good in parts. He says, “So far, 2024 has not been very rosy for label printers, with the French economy on the blink and as for the political situation, we’d better not talk about that. But recently, in the third quarter, things were looking up a bit.”

The greening of Sleeve labels

Sleever and Carbios, two French companies, have joined forces in the service of sustainable packaging and of sleeve shrink labels in particular. Sleever is a family business with a 50-year history. The company is another of that small band of French-based companies with a strong international presence: 14 production sites on five continents. With over 500 patents and a multidisciplinary research department, it covers the entire value chain in-house: from film formulation, printing and converting, to the construction of capital goods and the provision of services. 

Its partner Carbios is a biotechnology company that develops and industrializes biological solutions to improve the life cycle of plastics and textiles. For more than 15 years, Sleever has been partnering with packaging industry experts to accelerate and strengthen the circular economy and packaging recyclability. “Carbios Active” is a newly-developed ingredient integrated directly into film production to improve its compostability.

Carbios Active could bring about a new generation of compostable biopolymers able to give high-quality compost, free from toxins and micropollutants. A production line is already in operation at the Carbios headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France, which will produce 2,500 tons of Carbios Active per year. 

Fake news on French TV? Surely not!

The documentary was called “Paper boxes and bags: are they really good for the environment?” and it was broadcast on French television on September 16, 2024. The program raised hackles in the paper and packaging industry. Industry representatives accused it of manipulating statistics and concealing crucial elements. Leading industry experts pointed out the deliberate distortions and omissions that nudged public opinion toward wrong conclusions. The program (which your correspondent watched), asked the question, “Are paper bags really made from recycled material?”

This question suggested to the listener that the industry was being less than sincere. The claim is, of course, pure fiction. As we know, virgin fibers are used to make paper bags for certain technical reasons such as strength and capacity. This does not mean – as this program suggested – that virgin fibers are de facto bad for the environment. This glossed over the fact that over 80% of packaging is made partly or wholly from recycled materials. Among many other half-truths, the program claimed that cutting down a tree is automatically hurting the environment. All in all, this program was a textbook example of manipulation and how to subvert public opinion!

A new cutting edge for ABG

ABG’s Kelleythorpe site in the UK has been fully operational since August 2024 and adds to the company’s existing manufacturing premises in Carnaby, UK, Baesweiler, Germany, and Girona, Spain.

The new facility integrates ABG’s machine shop operations, and is equipped with cutting-edge milling and lathe machinery, featuring advanced equipment from Mazak, Hurco and Matsuura, with the introduction of the high-speed 5-axis Matsuura machining center, in particular, being cited as delivering greater automation and efficiency to ABG’s manufacturing capabilities. The Kelleythorpe site has also become the production base for ABG’s Vectra turret rewinder ranges. This new facility offers more manufacturing space, helping to increase Vectra production capacity, aiding in reducing lead times for customers.

Hard times for Europe’s label associations

FINAT’s latest report confirms what we already knew. A fall in label demand meant a difficult 2023. At its annual meeting, held this year in Athens, FINAT’s statistics were unequivocal: demand for self-adhesive labelstock in Europe fell year-on-year by an eye-watering 25.8%, reaching a level not seen since 2013. Plastic laminates recovered strongly in the first half of 2024, and this trend reflects the growing popularity of PP films, which are particularly prized in the health, beauty and food sectors. On the other hand, demand for uncoated paper has fallen drastically, but thermal labels have gained in popularity, particularly for uses requiring variable data such as logistics or e-commerce.

Despite an expected upturn in 2024, the label market remains fragile, and FINAT anticipates an uneven recovery. In addition, the sector is facing growing regulatory pressures, particularly in environmental matters. Label converters will have to turn to more sustainable materials, like biodegradable substrates and recycled paper, to remain compliant with new European regulations.

The French label association UNFEA now has a new president. Sylvain Marchal will succeed Cyril Rose as president for the next two years. He has been CEO of the family-run label converter AG3M for 20 years, and for the last 10 years has combined this activity with active membership of the UNFEA Board. In his inaugural speech, Marchal explained his goals for the next two years: In addition to the continuous recruitment of new members, an important goal will be to address the problem of recycling, and specifically that of matrix waste. According to Marchal, this waste is the bane of a converter’s life. Nobody wants it, and worse still, a cubic meter of matrix is largely made up of air,  making it expensive to transport. UNFEA has already made some progress in resolving this problem, and that could be a boon for label converters worldwide.

On the other bank of the Rhine, the German label association VskE is looking for a new full-time general manager. This job has been held jointly by Klemens Ehrlitzer and his wife, Siglinde, for much longer than most people can remember, and as they retire, their act will be a hard one to follow. The VskE board is headed up by Manuel Heidbrink (Orgakett), and a special mention must be made for ex officio Board member Helmut Schreiner, one of the few people who have been in the label business longer than Klemens.