The OSP Group (head office: Tennoji-ku, Osaka City; President Matsuguchi Tadashi), a one-stop manufacturer of stickers and labels, film products, Carton Package, and promotional tools, has succeeded in developing a recycled paper that is 100% recycled from the release paper (separator) of stickers and labels.
The sheet that remains after the sticker is peeled off (called release paper/separator) is coated with resins such as silicone, making it difficult to separate. As a result, it could not be recycled until now, and was simply incinerated and used as a heat source for various purposes within factories. However, in collaboration with the Kaneko Group (head office: Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka City; President: Takuzo Kaneko), which aims to be a recycling company that plays a part in a recycling-oriented society, we have developed a recycled paper made from release paper (separator) generated during manufacturing at our group's factories.

Background and purpose: To tackle environmental conservation by reusing release paper (separator)

Our group has an "Environmental Policy" as part of its management policy. Among other things, we have prioritized "developing products that consider environmental conservation" and have been actively working on this since 1998, promoting forest certification labels and proposing products made from plant-derived materials.
Our group, which has the top market share in Japan, discards over 300 tons of release paper (separator) per year during the manufacturing of our products, and much of this was incinerated and used as a heat source in our group's factories. Release paper (separator) is coated with resins such as silicone as a release layer, making it difficult to separate, and since it requires time and technology, no companies had begun recycling it. However, based on our management policy, we worked with the Kaneko Group and succeeded in developing a system after about a year.
By actively promoting recycling, our Group believes that we can fulfill our social responsibility while also having a positive impact on the industry as a whole.

Recycled paper manufacturing process

Because release paper has undergone various processes, it can be difficult to recycle it as recycled paper, but this has now become possible.

Future developments: Demonstration testing aimed at expanding to paper bags and other applications

In order to shorten delivery times and promote labor savings, the OSP Group will introduce a remote color proofing system that allows online color proofing with customers in the future and promote digitalization in each process. Currently, digital printing accounts for 18% of the total (as of October 2022). In the future, we will increase the number of satellite factories with subdivided product delivery areas across the country to further improve delivery speeds to customers and reduce CO2 emissions generated during transportation. We aim to increase the ratio of digital printing to 50% in the future.
The paper bags will be used for company use as a first step, and after checking their durability and printability, we will continue to develop them with the aim of realizing various upcycling applications, such as using them as material for tack paper for stickers and labels.

OSP Group Company Profile

The OSP Group (a total of 15 companies, 9 domestic and 6 overseas) is a corporate group that develops packaging solutions both in Japan and overseas, focusing on one-stop services for stickers and labels, film products, packaging, and labelers and packaging machines. As a leading company in the printing industry, we have established five environmental policies and are actively working to reduce the amount of base materials generated during the product manufacturing process.

• General name: OSP Group
• Address: 1-8 Obasecho-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture
• Representative company: OSAKA SEALING PRINTING CO., LTD.
• President: Matsuguchi Tadashi
• Founded: 1927
• Capital: 324,439,200 yen
• URL: https://www.osp.co.jp/

• Press release source: https://www.atpress.ne.jp/news/329637

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