David Savastano, Editor02.01.21
Sustainability is justifiably a huge topic globally, and the ink industry is no exception. Ink industry leaders note that sustainability is a major topic during discussions with brand owners and printers.
“Absolutely, and usually the focus is either on recycling or compostability,” said Shane Bertsch, INX International Ink Co.’s VP, strategic planning and innovation. “Brand owners and converters/printers are intent on delivering an incremental level of value to their customers, and the more effective options that they are able to provide, the better.
"We see a great deal of innovation in creating solutions to enable recyclable and compostable product offerings. In addition, there has been an increase in regulatory pressure that may help drive new investments in infrastructure to manage post-consumer resources.”
Shiina Harako, project manager, Marketing Division, Toyo Ink Co., Ltd., said there is no doubt that the hot topic these days is sustainability. She added that since the moment the United Nations issued its list of Sustainable Development Goals SDG), many countries followed suit with their own roadmaps targeting the plastic pollution problem.
“In addition, many brand owners and converters prepared their own pledges to address SDG issues and to offer solutions,” said Harako. “Not only solvent-less and more environmentally friendly solutions are being sought, but also new solutions in terms of functional inks, coatings or adhesives that aid in reducing the amount of plastic being used in packaging, such as barrier products among others. Solutions that have made the recycling process easier and allow an increase in the circularity of materials are also a recurrent question that we receive.”
Michael Spörl, head of global marketing and corporate communication for hubergroup, agrees that sustainability is a huge topic.
“The needs and requests of sustainable inks do not only cover the used raw materials,” said Spörl. “It is about the end-to-end process from raw material sourcing to packaging and shipping. Furthermore, suitability for a circular economy is important. More and better results can only be achieved through cross-company cooperation in the industry.”
“We are often asked about the topic of sustainability when contacted by brand owners and packaging converters alike,” said Dr. Evan Benbow, VP, product technology and solutions for Wikoff Color.
Dr. Nikola M. Juhasz, global technical director of sustainability at Sun Chemical, said that sustainability is critical to customers.
“Our customers continue to be driven by brand owners to provide more sustainable solutions in all of their printed applications,” Dr. Juhasz observed. “This trend is pushing manufacturers, converters, brand owners, and CPGs to establish realistic sustainability goals that will help in achieving a circular economy.”
Dr. Juhasz said these goals are influencing the partnerships formed in the marketplace, as many organizations are establishing relationships through industry associations with other organizations having aligned sustainability goals.
“The products supplied to the market increasingly utilize renewable resources and raw materials that promote bio-renewability, compostability and/or recyclability,” Dr. Juhasz noted.
Key Initiatives in the Ink Industry
Ink manufacturers are working on initiatives in the area of sustainability. Rajesh Bhasin, joint president, UFlex Chemicals Business, noted that leading ink producers are currently focusing on designing and offering eco-friendly inks with superior content of bio-renewable materials and almost non-existent heavy metals and VOCs.
“Such inks can help the entire packaging ecosystem to meet the global redefined standards,” Bhasin observed. “The challenge is to ensure the availability of these products at an acceptable price point without hindering the end to end supply chain.”
Dr. Benbow said that the initiatives Wikoff Color is taking in the area of sustainability can be broken down into three areas – product development, manufacturing and end-of-lifecycle.
“In the product development stage, it is the policy of Wikoff Color to use raw materials that are as non-toxic, non-polluting and non-hazardous as the customer’s performance requirements allow,” said Dr. Benbow. “We also will use the maximum amount of plant-derived, renewable raw materials and the minimum amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that still meet customer requirements.
“Any inks and coatings that are manufactured by Wikoff Color, but not used by a printer, are worked off and reused in new inks whenever possible. Waste inks that are not water-based can be used as fuel, and waste water-based products can be disposed of in a standard wastewater treatment facility.”
Dr. Benbow noted that in terms of end-of-lifecycle initiatives, at this time there are very few ink ingredients that are inherently recyclable or compostable, but that does not prevent the packaging from meeting those expectations.
“For now, recyclability in the context of print means to allow the recycling of the underlying substrate,” added Dr. Benbow. “We are seeing increasing demand for inks and coatings manufactured by Wikoff Color to maximize the value of recycling of the substrate upon which they are printed.”
Renee Schouten, director of marketing for INX International Ink Co., reported that delivering innovative, safe and sustainable solutions that enhance the customer experience is INX’s top priority.
“We want consumers, brand owners and customers to feel confident in their product choices,” Schouten added. “That’s why our products are developed to have minimal impact on the environment without sacrificing machine, processing and end-use product performance.
Schouten said that to assure minimal impact, INX strives to use renewable, natural-based raw materials from ethical and sustainably managed sources for its products, such as INXhrc natural-based inks.
“Our development efforts focus on material health and safety, product functionality for environmental impact, and consumer safety with a mind for recycle-ready products,” Schouten added.
“We assist brand owners and customers,” concluded Schouten, “in making products easier to recycle and promoting the development of circular economies. This may include improving functional barriers to enable the use of mono-material structures, the use of colorfast washable inks – such as our new Genesis GS ink – that are easily removed in the recycling process, and inks and coatings that are designed to be highly robust for multiple use and returnable applications.”
Spörl reported that deinking and recycling are a topic, but that is not enough.
“We have to reduce our carbon footprint in total,” Spörl added. “Recycling is one part of it, but it also has to be suitable for biocycling that is what we are working on. Cradle-to-Cradle is a high standard for it, which we fulfill with a lot of our inks and varnishes. And we also make our contribution by driving projects forward in several initiatives. Besides Cradle-to-Cradle, we are contributing to cross-company initiatives, like PrintCYC or the Recyclate Initiative.”
Dr. Juhasz said that sustainability is a priority for all of Sun Chemical’s product development programs.
“More specifically, our initiatives include utilizing raw materials and natural resources that continue to advance the profiles of our commercial product lines in terms of enabling packaging compostability, recyclability and bio-renewability,” said Dr. Juhasz. “This includes the development of tailor-made solutions when specific ink or pigment requirements are needed.
“Last year alone, Sun Chemical in combination with its parent organization, DIC Corporation, spent over $100 million in R&D, much of which was focused on sustainable solutions,” added Dr. Juhasz. “That focus on R&D and industry partnerships led to our launch of SunVisto AquaGreen water-based inks. These inks are formulated with the highest level of bio-renewable resin content the industry has to offer.”
Harako reported that Toyo Ink is working on a wide array of solutions that includes solvent-less products to tackle the emissions of greenhouse gases, reformulating some products to make them suitable with the currently available recycling streams.
“Moreover, we are also promoting bio-based materials that would reduce the dependence on fossil resources to solve the issue of their scarcity,” Harako said. “Toyo Ink has also developed new products such as anchor coatings to facilitate de-inking to get a better quality output when the flexible packaging is mechanically recycled.
Harako added that last year, Toyo Ink Group developed a technology to separate the ink and adhesive that make up the multilayer film or packaging in cooperation with a leading environmental solutions company.
“A demonstration pilot plant is being built in Japan, with completion slated for 2021,” Harako concluded. “We plan to start a post-industrial recycling business in 2022 and to launch a post-industrial and post-consumer recycling business in commercial plants by 2025.”
“Absolutely, and usually the focus is either on recycling or compostability,” said Shane Bertsch, INX International Ink Co.’s VP, strategic planning and innovation. “Brand owners and converters/printers are intent on delivering an incremental level of value to their customers, and the more effective options that they are able to provide, the better.
"We see a great deal of innovation in creating solutions to enable recyclable and compostable product offerings. In addition, there has been an increase in regulatory pressure that may help drive new investments in infrastructure to manage post-consumer resources.”
Shiina Harako, project manager, Marketing Division, Toyo Ink Co., Ltd., said there is no doubt that the hot topic these days is sustainability. She added that since the moment the United Nations issued its list of Sustainable Development Goals SDG), many countries followed suit with their own roadmaps targeting the plastic pollution problem.
“In addition, many brand owners and converters prepared their own pledges to address SDG issues and to offer solutions,” said Harako. “Not only solvent-less and more environmentally friendly solutions are being sought, but also new solutions in terms of functional inks, coatings or adhesives that aid in reducing the amount of plastic being used in packaging, such as barrier products among others. Solutions that have made the recycling process easier and allow an increase in the circularity of materials are also a recurrent question that we receive.”
Michael Spörl, head of global marketing and corporate communication for hubergroup, agrees that sustainability is a huge topic.
“The needs and requests of sustainable inks do not only cover the used raw materials,” said Spörl. “It is about the end-to-end process from raw material sourcing to packaging and shipping. Furthermore, suitability for a circular economy is important. More and better results can only be achieved through cross-company cooperation in the industry.”
“We are often asked about the topic of sustainability when contacted by brand owners and packaging converters alike,” said Dr. Evan Benbow, VP, product technology and solutions for Wikoff Color.
Dr. Nikola M. Juhasz, global technical director of sustainability at Sun Chemical, said that sustainability is critical to customers.
“Our customers continue to be driven by brand owners to provide more sustainable solutions in all of their printed applications,” Dr. Juhasz observed. “This trend is pushing manufacturers, converters, brand owners, and CPGs to establish realistic sustainability goals that will help in achieving a circular economy.”
Dr. Juhasz said these goals are influencing the partnerships formed in the marketplace, as many organizations are establishing relationships through industry associations with other organizations having aligned sustainability goals.
“The products supplied to the market increasingly utilize renewable resources and raw materials that promote bio-renewability, compostability and/or recyclability,” Dr. Juhasz noted.
Key Initiatives in the Ink Industry
Ink manufacturers are working on initiatives in the area of sustainability. Rajesh Bhasin, joint president, UFlex Chemicals Business, noted that leading ink producers are currently focusing on designing and offering eco-friendly inks with superior content of bio-renewable materials and almost non-existent heavy metals and VOCs.
“Such inks can help the entire packaging ecosystem to meet the global redefined standards,” Bhasin observed. “The challenge is to ensure the availability of these products at an acceptable price point without hindering the end to end supply chain.”
Dr. Benbow said that the initiatives Wikoff Color is taking in the area of sustainability can be broken down into three areas – product development, manufacturing and end-of-lifecycle.
“In the product development stage, it is the policy of Wikoff Color to use raw materials that are as non-toxic, non-polluting and non-hazardous as the customer’s performance requirements allow,” said Dr. Benbow. “We also will use the maximum amount of plant-derived, renewable raw materials and the minimum amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that still meet customer requirements.
“Any inks and coatings that are manufactured by Wikoff Color, but not used by a printer, are worked off and reused in new inks whenever possible. Waste inks that are not water-based can be used as fuel, and waste water-based products can be disposed of in a standard wastewater treatment facility.”
Dr. Benbow noted that in terms of end-of-lifecycle initiatives, at this time there are very few ink ingredients that are inherently recyclable or compostable, but that does not prevent the packaging from meeting those expectations.
“For now, recyclability in the context of print means to allow the recycling of the underlying substrate,” added Dr. Benbow. “We are seeing increasing demand for inks and coatings manufactured by Wikoff Color to maximize the value of recycling of the substrate upon which they are printed.”
Renee Schouten, director of marketing for INX International Ink Co., reported that delivering innovative, safe and sustainable solutions that enhance the customer experience is INX’s top priority.
“We want consumers, brand owners and customers to feel confident in their product choices,” Schouten added. “That’s why our products are developed to have minimal impact on the environment without sacrificing machine, processing and end-use product performance.
Schouten said that to assure minimal impact, INX strives to use renewable, natural-based raw materials from ethical and sustainably managed sources for its products, such as INXhrc natural-based inks.
“Our development efforts focus on material health and safety, product functionality for environmental impact, and consumer safety with a mind for recycle-ready products,” Schouten added.
“We assist brand owners and customers,” concluded Schouten, “in making products easier to recycle and promoting the development of circular economies. This may include improving functional barriers to enable the use of mono-material structures, the use of colorfast washable inks – such as our new Genesis GS ink – that are easily removed in the recycling process, and inks and coatings that are designed to be highly robust for multiple use and returnable applications.”
Spörl reported that deinking and recycling are a topic, but that is not enough.
“We have to reduce our carbon footprint in total,” Spörl added. “Recycling is one part of it, but it also has to be suitable for biocycling that is what we are working on. Cradle-to-Cradle is a high standard for it, which we fulfill with a lot of our inks and varnishes. And we also make our contribution by driving projects forward in several initiatives. Besides Cradle-to-Cradle, we are contributing to cross-company initiatives, like PrintCYC or the Recyclate Initiative.”
Dr. Juhasz said that sustainability is a priority for all of Sun Chemical’s product development programs.
“More specifically, our initiatives include utilizing raw materials and natural resources that continue to advance the profiles of our commercial product lines in terms of enabling packaging compostability, recyclability and bio-renewability,” said Dr. Juhasz. “This includes the development of tailor-made solutions when specific ink or pigment requirements are needed.
“Last year alone, Sun Chemical in combination with its parent organization, DIC Corporation, spent over $100 million in R&D, much of which was focused on sustainable solutions,” added Dr. Juhasz. “That focus on R&D and industry partnerships led to our launch of SunVisto AquaGreen water-based inks. These inks are formulated with the highest level of bio-renewable resin content the industry has to offer.”
Harako reported that Toyo Ink is working on a wide array of solutions that includes solvent-less products to tackle the emissions of greenhouse gases, reformulating some products to make them suitable with the currently available recycling streams.
“Moreover, we are also promoting bio-based materials that would reduce the dependence on fossil resources to solve the issue of their scarcity,” Harako said. “Toyo Ink has also developed new products such as anchor coatings to facilitate de-inking to get a better quality output when the flexible packaging is mechanically recycled.
Harako added that last year, Toyo Ink Group developed a technology to separate the ink and adhesive that make up the multilayer film or packaging in cooperation with a leading environmental solutions company.
“A demonstration pilot plant is being built in Japan, with completion slated for 2021,” Harako concluded. “We plan to start a post-industrial recycling business in 2022 and to launch a post-industrial and post-consumer recycling business in commercial plants by 2025.”