Sustainability is a part of product development from the very beginning

Since 2007, Sami Kivinen has been developing inhouse adhesives for UPM Raflatac. He is still on the same path, and today, his mission is to find sustainable yet efficient adhesive solutions.

Manager Sami Kivinen works as part of the global research and development team. The team consists of ten professionals who are experts in their own segment of adhesives. Kivinen is specialized in hotmelt adhesives and coordinates the development of this segment. In addition to this, Kivinen is part of several different technology and sustainability related projects.

R&D teams play a key role in creating product-level solutions to some of the largest challenges of today: how to save resources, create low-carbon alternatives for demanding uses, and support circularity of packages.

Adhesive development has paid off

Most of UPM Raflatac’s adhesives are water-based and after them, hotmelt adhesives are a big segment. Kivinen himself is known as an expert of hotmelt adhesives – the same ones he started with over ten years ago. He was part of the project developing Raflatac’s first own hotmelt adhesive.

Hotmelt adhesives are 100% solids, and there is no carrier such as water. The advantage of hotmelt adhesives is their high initial tack for relatively aggressive adhesion, on cold and moist surfaces as well as rough surfaces, such as paper and cardboard, and non-polar surfaces like PE and PP. They are designed for product labels used in environments typically ranging from room temperature down to deep freeze.

“Developing our own adhesives and offering them to our customers is a success story. We have built our product portfolio as UPM Raflatac has grown.”

Challenges are opportunities

Nowadays, sustainability is embedded in most of Kivinen’s projects in almost every phase, from the very beginning to the end.

“Our hotmelt adhesives contain quite a high amount of biobased raw materials which is naturally a good starting point for developing even more sustainable label solutions. UPM’s strategy drives us forward, and we aim to measure and decrease the emissions of our adhesives in accordance with UPM targets. This applies to the entire value chain. Increasing the biobased content of the adhesives is part of this program and we have several projects for it,” Kivinen explains.

Recyclability is one of the key topics for product development. UPM Raflatac wants to develop adhesives and laminates that enhance the recyclability of different packaging types. The work is guided by developments in voluntary recycling guidelines as well as regulatory changes.

“In terms of labeling materials and packaging recyclability we have many things to consider: the adhesive, the surface material, and even the print colors. This is a challenging but also interesting area, and it provides us with many opportunities to improve our products and make packages more recyclable. But as packages are designed to be more recyclable, it is important that the recycling systems are updated at the same pace.”

Kivinen finds recycling-related projects meaningful and rewarding. Even though regulation especially in Europe is driving rapid changes towards sustainability, the change is taking place globally.

“It is becoming clear what sustainability really means, and all our projects – large and small – are gradually taking us there. We are a part of the sustainability transformation.”

Sustainability is an integral part of Kivinen’s job, but it is also present in his everyday life.

“Our family pays a lot of attention to recycling and energy consumption. We sort at least nine materials for recycling, and recently, we invested in an air-water heat pump instead of direct electric heating. The new solution is used for both heating the house and domestic water.”