New Development Trend of Ink: Ecological Ink (I)

Although sustainable development has attracted the attention of many paper product processors and suppliers in recent years, the importance of ink is often overlooked. Even companies like Wal-Mart (the propagators and promoters of sustainable development in the packaging industry) cannot claim the position of ink in dozens of environmental protection factors.

But this does not mean that ink cannot help people achieve their own sustainable development goals. In an interview recently conducted by PFFC magazine, ink suppliers stated that they will continue to work on the development of new products and will play a more important role in helping end-users achieve their green goals.

Michelle Hearn, Marketing Manager at Solar Chemicals North America Ink Company, said: “We can support our customers from a sustainability perspective. A customer can look at the sustainability of inks from different perspectives, including their energy use and VOC emissions. Quantity, etc."

Mike Buystedt, head of Midwest Division of Flint Ink's narrow-width division, stated that the proper use of ink can have a direct impact on the sustainable development of packaging because the quality of printing is directly related to the quantity of scrap. For example, a new generation of water-based inks only requires the use of a pH regulator, which can reduce the burden on operators while reducing the amount of waste and defective products.

Buystedt said: "From the point of view of the amount of materials, ink is not enough to hang teeth; but from the point of view of the use of ink, as long as a little careless, it will have a significant impact on your environmental protection plan. If you before printing on the machine Without the test of your own ink, or the color adjustment on the press, a lot of scrap will be produced."

Ecological analysis

Rick Grandke, industry manager of BASF Resins, said that sustainable development is a problem that the company must take into consideration when making business decisions. In fact, the company regularly conducts "ecological benefit analysis" on different products and processes. Compare and assess their raw materials, energy consumption, land use, emissions, toxicity and potential hazards. Eco-efficiency analysis can not only reduce the energy and materials consumed in the processing of paper products, but also keep carbon dioxide emissions low. It can also encourage ink manufacturers to produce more environmentally-friendly ink products.

Grandke said: "Paper processors and ink manufacturers will continue to pay attention to product safety, compatibility and long-term sustainable development. Therefore, BASF will also use its own eco-efficiency analysis tools to promote product innovation and improve people's quality of life. ."

Companies such as Flint Ink, BCM Ink, and GraphicSciences have developed inks containing non-petroleum based ingredients such as soy, resins, corn oil, and paper to support customers' sustainability. For example, BCM's new Eekoflex ink is made from paper residue, and it uses pigments that do not contain heavy metals and hardly emit VOCs.

BCM explained to the company’s vice president Bob Califf: “Most resins are made from petroleum products. However, we have now reduced the proportion of petroleum materials in inks and used pine resin as a substitute for petroleum materials. From a recycling point of view, this is a step further than using soybeans."

Danny Ramos, GraphicSciences's vice president of services, said: "This is mainly caused by changes in the environment. People want to make their own contribution to environmental protection and want to help us get rid of dependence on foreign crude oil."