106 | Global Label AwardsGLOBAL LABEL AWARDSGuests from all over the world attended the Global Label Awards at Labelexpo Americas 2022. Luis Rodriguez reportsabelexpo hosted the Global Label Awards and Reunion Party on the opening night of Labelexpo Americas 2022, bringing Lguests together to honor the innovations from across the label and packaging industry.Actega, S-One Labels & Packaging and Flint Group Narrow Web all took home innovation awards, while Stijn Billiet, global sustainability director at MCC Label, was honored with the Rising Star Award. Harveer Sahni, chairman at Weldon Celloplast was honored with the R Stanton Avery Global Achievement Award.Sahni began his career in 1971 at Weldon Sales Corporation, his father’s stationary company. From here, he used the Weldon laboratory to research the develop new products including inks, adhesives, and coatings, leveraging his degree in chemistry. In 1978, seeing a growing demand for self-adhesive stickers in India, Sahni invested in a siliconizing line, developing and producing poly-coated release liners and later a barrier coating for uncoated woodfree or brown sack kraft papers that could accept silicone release coating.“ALL THE WORK THAT ‘There was a profound wish in myself to share my knowledge, WE’VE BEEN DOING, so I started writing about labels. I wrote extensively to share “THERE WAS A with the label industry. If anybody would I ask anything, I would OUR INNOVATIONS, ARE PROFOUND WISH IN share,’ Sahni says in an interview with L&L’s India editor, Akanksha ALL BASED AROUND Meena. ‘I would not really treat them as competitors because MYSELF TO SHARE SUSTAINABILITY AND they would eventually gain the knowledge in one way or another. MY KNOWLEDGE, SO Since I gave them the answers properly and correctly, today they HOW WE CAN HELP IN I STARTED WRITING respect all that.’THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY Sahni continues his work on his blog, sharing his knowledge to ABOUT LABELS. I FROM A PACKAGING the labels and packaging world, and sits on the board of directors of WROTE EXTENSIVELY the Label Manufacturers Association of India.STANDPOINT”TO SHARE WITH THE LABEL INDUSTRY. IF SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONSAt the Global Label Awards, four other awards were given out, all of ANYBODY WOULD which in one way or another, had a sustainable push behind them. I ASK ANYTHING, One of which was the Environmental Sustainability Award taken I WOULD SHARE”home by Flint Group Narrow Web for its Evolution line of products, which are designed to enable more sustainable packaging.‘All the work that we’ve been doing, our innovations, are all based around sustainability and how we can help in the circular economy from a packaging standpoint,’ says Paulo Viera, research and development – packaging and narrow web for Flint Group Narrow Web.The award was specifcally given for two products, the frst being its Evolution Deinking Primer. This product, when used with a crystallizable shrink sleeve label and Flint Group EkoCure XS inks, enables the deinking of shrink sleeve materials and as a result the clean sleeve label material can be recycled into PET packaging. The second is an overprint varnish that’s resistant to the caustic solutions and protects the ink in the case of a foatable pressure-sensitive label.Receiving the Rising Star award, Billiet started his career at MCC Label in 2020, bringing sustainability into nearly aspect of the labelsandlabeling.com