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Waste Reduction Initiatives at MCC Make a Difference Around the Globe

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At MCC, we are continuously looking to optimize production processes. We do this by maintaining a continuous improvement approach in each facility globally, where our aim is – among other targets – to reduce energy and water usage, as well as implementing waste reduction strategies. Waste reduction, the combination of waste prevention and recycling efforts, in addition to financial advantages, benefits the environment and society, and we establish ourselves as a good community citizen, providing immeasurable, lasting rewards.  

Waste reduction begins by a good understanding on the material employed, how we are processing this on our printing lines and finally by finding ways to reduce, reuse and recycle materials. All over the globe, MCC colleagues are working hard to prevent waste in all of its forms. We would like to highlight some of these projects that might inspire you to keep us on the good path. 

Waste prevention

The best kind of waste is the waste that does not exist at all. In every facility, we try to achieve the highest efficiency when printing labels for our customers. Avoiding misprints, reducing start-up waste and ensuring the maximum amount of labels on a roll are just a few of the key factors that our operations teams deal with on a day-to-day basis. Within our organization, we also have a number of digital presses across the globe, that provide us the opportunity to reduce waste even further. With the minimal print setup, there is a significant lower consumption of substrate and ink and thus lower waste.  

Recycling

If waste cannot be avoided, we need to be aware of where we can dispose of this material. Several sites across the globe have already become a “zero to landfill site” (e.g. MCC Daventry) but there is a long way to go before we can achieve this as an entire company. Equally important is that we produce products that do not hinder recycling of the final packaging. For example, our RecycLABEL product range is gaining more and more traction in the market every day and we should all be proud of this. The next step in the packaging world is the incorporation of recycled content. Thanks to our vertical integration (our coating facilities in MCC Elkton and MCC Heiligenstadt), we have the capability to introduce post-consumer recycled material in both the facestock and liner materials. Individual sites can contribute to this as well. MCC Napa has developed a sample pack (“Green series”) showcasing the sustainable material options that customers have. 

Outreach

As we are living in a fast-changing world and in order to ensure that all our employees have the latest information on waste prevention, MCC is fully supporting training sessions to help support our common goal. In our previous MyConnect, we showed that MCC Clarksville is taking this even one step further by helping local organizations become better environmental stewards by saving resources, generating ideas, and continuously striving to improve. Being part of a bigger group helps tackle more challenging waste issues that go beyond the walls of our production facilities. The newly formed industry-wide consortium CELAB (Circular Economy for Labels) is a great example of this. The entire pressure sensitive label value chain is collaborating to find solutions for waste at every point in the supply chain. MCC is part of the global executive board and actively helping the industry towards a circular economy.