Label Stock from Corn!
PLA is a revolutionary product that will help reduce the environmental impact of labels, packaging, and many other products. PLA is not made from trees (like paper) or made from petroleum derivatives (like most film labels). So what is it?
PLA is an abbreviation for PolyLacticAcid. It is a compostable film which allows many more options to keep labels and packaging out of the landfill. Rose City Label has recently partnered with a prominent recycling firm in the Northwest to independently test the breakdown of PLA in the composting process over time – we will provide more on these results in the future — but WHAT IS IT?
PLA is made from ‘ingeo’ – which is a plastic pellet derived from corn by NatureWorks LLC. NatureWorks does not divert a significant amount of corn from the world food supply in making ingeo, but the company is still working to use other raw materials to create whatever the ‘next ingeo’ might be. Click here to learn more about NatureWorks.
Plastic Suppliers then converts the ingeo into a 2.o mil white or clear labelstock. This patented product is called ‘EarthFirstPLA Film’ and it is the first product of its kind in the label industry. Read more about Plastic Suppliers and EarthFirst here.
Next, the PLA film is sold to a Roll Stock company that coats the film with adhesive and a backing (liner). We typically buy our PLA label stock from Technicote, but others are working with the EarthFirst film as well. Learn more about Technicote here.
Finally, we (Rose City Label) print, diecut, and prepare the final labels for delivery to you, the eco-friendly customer!
That’s a complex production process, but really not much different than all the other label materials we print every day. As the demand for these products grow, we will continue to carry more compostable, recycled, and other eco-friendly products.
Call us today to find out if these products can help reduce your environmental impact. We are ready to help.