Emerging Technologies – Substrates

This short series on emerging technologies was a result of presentations made at the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum™ (TSTF), in May 2022. This final article in the series picks up on one theme not yet covered – the topic of substrates. But first we should consider why this debate should be defined as an emerging technology.

Previously, the debate on the relative attributes of substrates for stamps and labels (and indeed for items such as banknotes) has rested on their physical properties such as printability and durability and their capability of providing a secure solution.

While these remain important, there is another characteristic that is rapidly gaining priority – the topic of sustainability, which is having an increasing impact on our market sector. As a result, we should deem this an emerging technology driver for substrate selection.

The aim of this article is once again to identify those areas in the tax stamp and traceability businesses where opportunities may be found and threats may be encountered. The TSTF meeting provided a partial overview so we should begin there.

The evidence from TSTF 2022

A couple of presentations provided some background to this debate. The Georgia Revenue Service noted their use of paper stamps for various drink products, while the Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA) quantified the Indian tax stamp market as 75% polymer and 25% paper. These set the scene for this debate on substrates – will this balance change through the sustainability debate?

Both these materials have their attributes but there seemed to be some emphasis on paper at TSTF 2022. A presentation from the U-NICA Group discussed generating a PUF (physical unclonable function) from the random surface structure of a paper surface, for example within the area defined by the serial number. Security paper supply was well represented by participation from DREWSEN Spezialpapiere, BP Security of Brazil and Tullis Russell.

Substrates and sustainability

Demonstrations of suppliers showing substrate sustainability considerations are not hard to find. The OpSec® Eco Collection, which consists of sustainable FSC papers and boards, unbleached organic cotton labels and 100% recycled woven labels together with water-based inks shows a model to follow. A further example is Securikett’s It’s PAPER series of paper-based security seals that has now won a number of awards.

Recent years have seen a general trend of polymer substrates replacing paper across a number of application areas in the secure document space. Sustainability considerations could result in a reappraisal of this trajectory. But as we will see from examples cited below, it is not a simple consideration.

The key questions

The obvious questions to ask are as follows: are we going full circle and back to paper on sustainability grounds? Irrespective of this, will sustainability become a solution bidding background? And on both of these questions, what tools are we going to use to address this?

Back to paper? – there is probably no straightforward way to approach this question from a sustainability perspective as there are valid arguments to be made on both sides.

Like many other emotive questions, it will depend on the marketing proposition used to sell a potential solution. A polymer solution may need enhanced justification as an emotion-based response is likely to be that paper is obviously more sustainable.

Rebranding from plastic to polymer is but the start of a journey. It is becoming apparent that a key market requirement for any player in the polymer supply chain is to show a roadmap for sustainability. The market need is becoming more and more apparent, and the industry has to be ready to deliver.

There are more sustainable solutions emerging for polymers, but it seems unclear which will be applicable to stamp and label products. A supplier with a credible marketing proposition on this could develop competitive advantage. Polymers based on vegetation feedstocks (termed bioplastics) or derived from carbon capture may become options.

However, both the economic viability and sustainability arguments are as yet unclear. What does look clear is that the debate on the relative attributes of paper and polymer (and indeed of competing polymers) is entering a new phase. Manufacturers and suppliers will need to increase emphasis on sustainability into their marketing propositions into the future.

Sustainability as a bid winner? – indications from other communities suggest that sustainability is being made a significant driver in other bid processes. It is already seen as significant in currency (see reference hereunder) but there are a number of examples of this outside of secure documents. It may prove to be of value to monitor these other sectors for models of this and we can use particle physics as an example.

Particle physics is not just a niche discipline but for some it is big business. There are currently five proposals to succeed the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and the ‘green credentials’ of the different bids are already the subject of published debate. It looks possible that this is intended to set the agenda for the formal bidding process that will come later.

What is clear is that sustainability as a market driver will only increase in importance over the coming years. This suggests that the role of sustainability in bidding processes will also increase in priority. For those needing an edge on closely competing bids, this suggests sustainability could indeed sway the decision.

What are the relevant tools? – the need to factor sustainability considerations into marketing propositions has already been covered in this article. While there will be increasing emphasis placed on this, there is likely to be a commensurate sensitivity to allegations of ‘greenwashing’ – the use of dubious claims to falsely emphasise the ‘green credentials’ of a product. Credible tests such as those related to international standards will help here, but there are also software tools that could be used.

Life cycle analysis is one route and options such as GES 1point5 are emerging in other areas. Could our industry approach this collectively to define a solution, maybe as an international standard?

A good example of how our industry can approach such issues can be found in the Reconnaissance International publication ‘Cash: A Roadmap to Sustainability’.

https://estore.reconnaissance.net/cn-cash-roadmap-sustainability/.

Finally, a forecast for you. I anticipate that sustainability will feature more strongly at the next TSTF, set for Tbilisi, Georgia in October 2023.

taxstamptraceabilityforum.com.