New Development Trend of Ink: Ecological Ink (Part 2)

Factors to consider

According to Robert Waddington, general manager of Uvitec Printing Ink, UV inks are inherently sustainable because they do not contain VOCs and offer a variety of choices for printers trying to reduce their emissions. However, although UV inks use resins derived from non-oil resources such as soybeans and other vegetable proteins, they also lack the integrity, flexibility, and other attributes of petroleum-based inks.

Ramos said that GraphicSciences also examined soybean, corn oil, and rosin-based inks, but unfortunately, these alternative materials also have certain limitations, for example, they do not have some of the performance of traditional inks. Features.

Buystedt pointed out: "One drawback of the soybean technology is that it does not have good moisture resistance, so we need to put a layer of varnish on the prints."

Flint Group introduced a HydroSoy water-based flexo printing ink at Labelexpo, which uses renewable resin technology and is fully consistent with people's sustainable development philosophy. Soybean inks can increase the sustainability of print production while ensuring print quality, color strength, and print stability. But Flint also pointed out that although there is no ink that can achieve true "biodegradation," the emergence of low-VOC inks and renewable inks has laid the foundation for our sustainable development.

Mike Impastato, vice president of business development at Flint North American Packaging, explained: “Our products must not at least damage the natural environment of the planet, and our treatment of inks must not endanger people’s lives and the Earth’s ecosystem. In order to achieve this goal, we will continue to improve the sustainability of our products and production processes."

Sun Chemical's WetFlex system and UniQure ink are considered to have the least impact on the environment and won the Environmental Innovation Award.

Hearn said: “We can support our customers from the perspective of sustainable development, but at the same time, they can not give up the requirements for high-fidelity printing. Wet-wet printing systems can do this. A large water-based ink The advantage is that their VOC content is low, so you can use it to reduce the amount of harmful gases emitted into the atmosphere."

MelWeinzimer, Marketing Director of Polytex Green Ink Company, said: “For a time, everyone was worried about the function of eco-ink: whether it could scratch the printed products; whether it could be washed; and whether it was wearable? We are developing any one of them. When it comes to new products, we must consider health, environmental protection and laws and regulations. After all, this is the basis for our survival.

And for more and more ink suppliers, supporting sustainable development has become part of their corporate culture.