IN Brief:
- AWA will stage its International Linerless Label Conference & Exhibition in Chicago on 19 November.
- Its market research puts linerless labels at approximately 6% of the pressure sensitive label market.
- Materials, converting, printing, automation, sustainability and RFID are among the subjects expected across the programme.
AWA Alexander Watson Associates will bring suppliers, converters, equipment manufacturers and users of linerless labels together in Chicago on 19 November as the technology takes a growing share of the pressure sensitive label market.
The fourth AWA International Linerless Label Conference & Exhibition will focus on the materials, converting equipment and application technologies required to move linerless formats into a wider range of commercial uses.
AWA’s market research puts linerless labels at approximately 6% of the global pressure sensitive label market. Although still a minority format, the technology has expanded through logistics, retail price and weight labelling, food packaging and quick service restaurant applications.
Linerless labels remove the disposable release liner used behind conventional pressure sensitive constructions. Instead of peeling a label away from a separate backing material before application, the label web is designed so adhesive coated material can be wound and dispensed without that additional liner.
Removing the backing changes both the waste profile and the mechanics of the system. A conventional pressure sensitive roll carries liner material through printing, transport and application even though the liner does not remain on the packaged product.
Linerless formats eliminate that material but require coatings, adhesives, printing and application equipment to work reliably without it. Those technical requirements help explain why adoption has progressed faster in some applications than others.
AWA identifies particularly strong use in variable information printing, mobile printing, retail weigh scale labels and food applications where label geometry and application speed suit established linerless systems.
Food packaging has become one of the more visible areas of development. Linerless sleeves can wrap trays and packs without a conventional release liner, reducing one material stream while retaining the printed area required for branding, ingredients and regulatory information.
The approach involves more than removing a layer from an existing label. Adhesive behaviour has to remain controlled while the material is wound on itself, while converting equipment must handle the web without blocking or damaging the printable surface.
Application machinery then has to separate and place each label accurately. Those demands become greater as line speeds rise or pack shapes vary, putting equipment development alongside materials science in determining where the format can be adopted.
The programme supplied for AWA’s November event brings companies from across that chain together, including Avery Dennison, Optimum Group’s Belona business, ETI Converting Equipment, Iconex, TSC Printers, MAAN Engineering Group, UPM Adhesive Materials, Mondi Group, Appvion and Flint Group Packaging Solutions.
Materials, printing, converting, automation, sustainability and RFID integration are all expected across the programme. Each part of the system influences the next: substrate and coating chemistry affect the roll, printing and converting prepare the label, and the applicator determines whether the finished construction performs at production speed.
AWA has also named procurement and supply chain specialist Karel van den Brink for a keynote addressing practical adoption across logistics and packaging applications. Commercial implementation will depend on equipment compatibility, label performance and the economics of changing an established packing line as much as on reducing liner material.
AWA’s 2025 market work estimated that variable information applications represented around 55% of linerless demand. These include labels printed with changing information close to the point of use, such as logistics identifiers, prices, weights and product data.
Primary food packaging creates a different growth route because appearance and material performance become more important alongside information printing. Labels may have to carry branding across chilled or moisture prone supply chains while continuing to run reliably through automated packing equipment.
Recent IN Food coverage has already shown the technology moving onto fresh produce lines, where Minor, Weir and Willis replaced flow wrap with a Ravenwood linerless format for avocados. That application links the material directly with machinery capable of applying it at commercial line speed.
AWA’s 2026 market report continues to describe linerless as a growth opportunity driven by waste avoidance, cost considerations and developments in application machinery, while also acknowledging limitations compared with established linered pressure sensitive formats.
Those constraints will determine the pace of adoption. Food manufacturers will still expect a different label format to maintain line output, product presentation, coding, traceability and overall pack performance while delivering the promised material reduction.
At around 6% of the pressure sensitive label market, linerless has considerable room to grow without yet displacing conventional constructions across every use. The Chicago conference brings the full value chain together at a point when food packaging applications are becoming increasingly visible on production lines rather than remaining confined to development trials.
