Billerud Americas Corporation Investigates Expanded Domestic Production of Pressure Sensitive Papers at its Quinnesec, Michigan, Mill

Billerud Americas Corporation, a leading producer of pressure sensitive (PS) face paper and release liner in North America, today announced it will investigate a relaunch of its OptiLabel^™ HB product made at its Quinnesec Mill on the No. 41 paper machine.

“We launched OptiLabel™ HB made at our Quinnesec Mill in 2020 during the peak of the COVID pandemic to support demand in the PS marketplace, so, we have already successfully made a significant volume of this product,” said Senior Vice President of Marketing Aaron Haas. “By making OptiLabel^™ HB at Quinnesec, we hope to provide an additional domestic supply source for PS paper. We already make a great deal of OptiLabel^™ HB and UniSil™ release liner on our No. 3 paper machine at our Escanaba Mill, and this additional machine will give us more manufacturing flexibility to support the PS marketplace for both release liner and face paper supply.”

“We understand customers need available face paper and release liner products, and we believe the product from Quinnesec can help fill a sizable space in this market segment,” Haas continued. “Our goal is to qualify products with strategic customers now through the end of 2022, and be at expanded production rates by the start of 2023.”

“At Billerud, we believe that sustainable paper solutions are preferable to fossil-based products like PET liners,” said Director of Product Development Stacey MacNeil. “Our OptiLabel™ HB face paper and UniSil^™ release liner are both proven workhorses for laminators and label converters. We want to give laminators, label converters, and end users the ability to avoid operational complications and environmental negatives that may exist with PET liners or filmic labels.”

About Billerud

Billerud Americas Corporation operates two integrated paper mills in Escanaba and Quinnesec, Michigan, which produce graphic and specialty papers. OptiLabel^™ HB is a semi-gloss C1S product for PS prime label applications. UniSil^™ is a release liner base sheet for PS siliconizing. For more information on these products, please contact your Billerud Americas Corporation sales professional, send an email to specialtypapers@billerud.com or visit billerud.com.

Contact:

Shawn Hall – shawn.hall@billerud.com – (937) 528-3700

Source: Billerud Americas Corporation