Last year, the scheme, which was launched in 2013, saw about 10,000 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill and dropped off at waste management consultant Prismm’s Lincolnshire waste-converting facility. It estimates matrix and production waste from label printers amounts to around 120,000 tonnes per year. 

At the Lincolnshire site, waste is shredded and converted into Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF), before being sent out to cement kilns across the UK.

The first certifications were rolled out last month at a seminar at the Bradford premises of The Label Makers to three companies: The Label Makers, PPL Pharmaceutical Packaging and Interket.

Since then, the other companies that participate in the scheme, around 50 businesses, have received their certification, which includes a certificate and an official logo that can be used on all business correspondence. 

Prismm sales director Jon Hutton anticipates more companies will get on board with the scheme as they realise the benefits it can have not only to the environment but also to their reputations and customer offering.

Hutton said: “We started the scheme three years ago and have been trundling along developing it and bringing on more label printers throughout the UK.

“The credibility of the scheme has grown hugely. Label printers on the whole landfill their waste because waste contractors don’t collect and treat it. We’re doing this at a more cost-effective way now and now we’ve introduced the certificate it will raise its profile and allow individual printers to say they are environmentally friendly and conscious.

“We’re beyond the development stage now and are kind of at stage where we can roll out further and show people the benefits of what it can offer.”

Prismm has recently overcome the problem of reaching smaller companies by introducing waste collection hubs in Dorset and Manchester and by jointly collecting waste in one go from businesses located near each other. Previously it was difficult to transport waste from SMEs to the Lincolnshire hub.

Hutton said he was delighted with the BPIF's association with the scheme, and said the industry body had been “proactive and helped spread the word”.

Prismm not only oversees the Zero Labels 2 Landfill scheme but also presides over a number of waste management schemes, including a recently-initiated project collecting waste from print finishers engaged in foil-blocking.