ISRI Adds New Specialty Paper Grade
The ISRI board of directors voted in March to add a new specialty grade—37-S Silicon Release Liner—to the paper stock guidelines in the ISRI Scrap Specifications Circular.
The original request to add this grade came from CELAB: Toward a Circular Economy for Labels, a coalition of companies in the self-adhesive label industry seeking to establish greater circularity for their products. CELAB submitted its request toward the end of 2021, and an ISRI working group reviewed the request, ultimately recommending the creation of specialty grade 37-S Silicon Release Liner. The ISRI Paper Division approved the working group’s recommendation in February, followed by a minimum 20-day public notice period. The ISRI board then approved the measure at its March 21 spring meeting in Las Vegas. Per ISRI specification approval procedures, a 30-day open comment period followed the board vote.
The introduction to all specialty grades in the ISRI paper stock guidelines offers this general description:
The grades listed below are produced and traded in carload and truckload quantities throughout the United States and because of certain characteristics (i.e., the presence of wet strength, polycoatings, plastic, foil, carbon paper, hot melt glue) are not included in the regular grades of paper stock. However, it is recognized that many mills have special equipment and are able to utilize large quantities of these grades. Since many paper mills around the world do use these specialty grades, they are being listed with appropriate grade numbers for easy reference.
The Paper Stock Industries Chapter of ISRI is not establishing specific specifications, which would refer to such factors as the type of wet strength agent used, the percentage of wax, the amount of polycoating, whether it is on top of or under the printing, etc. The specification for each grade should be determined between Buyer and Seller, and it is recommended that purchase be made based on sample.
For more information, contact Joe Pickard, ISRI’s chief economist and director of commodities, at jpickard@isri.org or Bret Biggers, ISRI’s senior economist, at bbiggers@isri.org.