Afera, The European Adhesive Tape Association, has released a new position paper on mass balance chain of custody as part of the work undertaken by the Advocacy Workstream of Afera’s Flagship Sustainability Project (AFSP). In the paper, Afera stated that it endorses the mass balance approach as a valid transitional mechanism for increasing circular content in products, while the tapes industry in general moves towards de-fossilization.

Citing the position paper, Pablo Englebienne, regulatory affairs manager at Afera said, "Afera and its members are committed to enhancing the sustainability of the adhesive tape product category and to elevating the circularity of products incorporating adhesive tapes. We request legislators to consider incorporating mass balance approaches into the drafting of legislation aimed at increasing the sustainability of products placed on the market in the European Union." 

Afera Position on Mass Balance Chain of Custody

The following is the text of Afera’s position paper on mass balance chain of custody: 

"Developing a clean and circular economy and achieving climate neutrality by 2050 are key priorities of the European Green Deal. For the European Union to achieve these goals, the carbon footprint of products placed on the E.U. market must be significantly reduced. Adhesive tapes are used in a myriad of sectors, including enablers of the European Green Deal such as construction products, electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy generation. They also serve as crucial societal contributors to healthcare and packaging. Using adhesive tapes in products reduces the resources required for their manufacture, facilitates their repair and refurbishing, and enables the recycling of (different) materials at the end of life.

"The incorporation of renewable and/or recycled feedstocks into the production of adhesive tapes has the potential to save fossil resources and to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing the circularity of adhesive tape products while maintaining high quality and performance is a key concern of the Industry.

"The mass balance chain-of-custody method is a credible, transparent and well-established chain-of-custody method, for which global standards exist (e.g. ISO 22095). It is a key enabler for processing sustainable feedstocks together with fossil feedstocks in existing complex supply chains, for which full segregation is impossible or undesirable. Thus, the transition to a circular economy can be accelerated without compromising the quality and performance of end products, or requiring laborious re-certification processes.

"The adhesive tape value chain has embraced certification schemes, such as ISCC PLUS, for circular or renewable raw materials used in the manufacturing of adhesive tapes, such as adhesives, additives, polymer films and foams. In this way, chemical raw materials manufactured from circular or renewable feedstocks are incorporated into products maintaining a chain-of-custody approach. The resulting tape products can then claim to contain a certain amount of recycled or bio-based content, following a specific certification scheme. Incorporation of these tapes into end products allows for specific claims on the circular or renewable content to be made.

"Afera endorses mass balance as a valid transitional mechanism for increasing the circular content in products, while industry in general moves towards defossilisation. We request legislators to consider incorporating mass balance approaches into the drafting of legislation aimed at increasing the sustainability of products placed on the market in the E.U.; for instance, for incorporating post-consumer waste into products.

"Afera is The European Adhesive Tape Association, counting 120 members in 20 countries, covering the complete value chain of the adhesive tapes industry and representing more than 80% of the European tape volume produced. Afera and its members are committed to enhancing the sustainability of the adhesive tape product category and to elevating circularity by ensuring recyclability, reusability and repairability of products incorporating adhesive tapes. Afera is working on the development of a tool to calculate the product carbon footprint of adhesive tapes in a harmonized way."

Learn more about Afera at https://afera.com/.