David Savastano, Editor10.15.20
The world is moving ever more closely to key themes like sustainability and the Circular Economy, and the ink industry plays a role in this.
From recyclability and compostability to using the best manufacturing processes, the printing ink industry is partnering up and down the supply chain to provide its own improvements.
That is the message from the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers’ (NAPIM) annual Technical Conference, held as the first three days of Ink Week.
The Electronic & Conductive Ink Conference will be featured today and Friday.
This year’s conference theme was “Formulating for the Circular Economy.”
The conference, held virtually, featured experts from the entire printing and printing ink supply chain and offered key insights into the Circular Economy and sustainability.
“The NAPIM/NPIRI Technical Conference is a one-of-a-kind event for the printing ink industry,” said John Copeland, executive director of NAPIM. “This virtual event did not diminish this characteristic of the event, and in fact enhanced our program in new ways. All of our speakers and moderators have done a fantastic job.”
George Fuchs, director, regulatory affairs and technology for NAPIM, said that the virtual Technical Conference, the first segment of Ink Week, proved to be very successful.
“With the awesome technical/cyber-logistical support provided by Michele StClair, Jennifer Keith and others, this first-time cyber event was executed with seamless precision,” Fuchs reported. “The recorded presentations followed by live Q&A proved to be a very effective format.
“Rue Patel’s keynote address was right on point expressing a brand owner’s view of the importance of supply chain communication,” added Fuchs. “Marci Kinter’s discussion of ‘circularity’ in our industry were just two of a series of well-presented and thought-provoking presentations. Natasha Banke’s 2020 Lawter Lecture Series-winning paper presentation was very well done and covered a topic that was of great interest to many in the audience.
“Tuesday’s Technical track and Wednesday’s Regulatory track were among the most informative I can remember,” Fuchs continued. “Mark Vincent’s presentation covering trace contaminants and inadvertent PCBs in certain pigments, Joe Cichon’s coverage of Total Productive Maintenance and Hazel O’Keeffe’s overview and update on European food packaging safety regulations were particular highlights for me among many other excellent presentations.”
“Overall, this year’s Technical Conference wasn’t just successful for a virtual Technical Conference it was successful NAPIM Technical Conference. My thanks and gratitude to all who contributed to the success of this event,” Fuchs concluded.
NAPIM Technical Conference
The theme of this year’s NAPIM Technical Conference was “Formulating for the Circular Economy."
Led by moderator Dr. Juanita Parris of Sun Chemical, the keynote session opened with Rue Patel of Rue-Works, LLC, the former supply chain director at General Mills.
During his talk, “Creating Value Through Supplier Partnerships,” Patel spoke about the importance of partnerships between suppliers and their customers, offering case studies of successes.
“You and your supplier negotiate rates, terms, delivery and product specs,” Patel said. “It is a tough negotiation process, sometimes down to hundredths of a cent. When things go wrong, as a customer, I am going to blame the supplier, and am going to want to get reparation. The supplier’s response is always the opposite, that you aren’t using the equipment set-up right, not training your people right or you aren’t using the materials right.
“What if you and the supplier looked at value, make the process more efficient, eliminate waste and create a joint problem-solving team,” he added.
In one case study, Patel talked about how he wanted to work with suppliers to reduce spending by 20% by saving on waste.
“We had a $10 million spend, and I wanted to take it down 20%, but we’d like to do this by being more efficient and cutting down on waste,” Patel observed. “We were also going to work hard to save their margin. We wanted to get an open line of communication. Even if I spent $10 million and got better runnability, that would be better for me.”
Building a relationship was key to this process.
“We developed an interface and worked hard to resolve issues early,” Patel recalled. “We wanted to resolve quality and delivery issues. We wanted to move from ‘supplier’ to ‘partner.’ Within three years, we built trust and set up operator exchanges. We reduced spend by 20%, reduced rejects by 70% and improved delivery targets by 30%, while maintaining supplier margins, and our suppliers leveraged their learnings to other customers.”
Katherine Berry, assistant director, sustainability and environment for the American Coatings Association, then discussed the “ACA 2020 Sustainability Report and Sustainability Program.”
“Paint and coatings are products that are indispensable for sustainability and serve a variety of functions that protect and preserve,” Berry said. “Major goals for ACA’s sustainability program include using a lifecycle approach to evaluate the environmental impacts of architectural coatings and providing transparency to the public.”
Berry added that the 2020 ACA Sustainability Report noted that the paint and coatings industry continues to advance technologies that protect infrastructure from corrosion, increase energy efficiency by using innovative coatings designed to naturally cool buildings and protect ecosystems by preventing the transfer of invasive species in our oceans.
“The ACA is also involved in responsible production and recycling, and improving air emissions,” Berry reported. “EPA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) air release data indicates that since 1990, coatings manufacturing emissions have dropped by 89%. I think recyclability is a big issue, as well as carbon and energy efficiency. I think people are looking at more sustainable options.”
Marci Kinter, VP – government and regulatory affairs for PRINTING United Alliance, gave an excellent talk centered on “Circularity in the Printing Industry – Can It Be Achieved?”
“Sustainability is leaving the world a better place than you found it,” Kinter began. “You have to look at it in its totality – people, planet and profit. The concept of the circular economy is replacing the linear economy. In order for a company to be truly sustainable, it needs to maintain its profitability. Gen Z shoppers demand sustainable retail.”
Kinter reported that she is seeing a lot of efforts in circular design and more public support for bans of certain types of packaging.
“Brands are making voluntary commitments,” Kinter said. “We are seeing emerging trends. A plant-based packaging strategy allows packaging to break down easier and you can recover some of the products. Brands are looking at edible packages for foodstuff. Then there is reusable packaging.”
For example, Danone is looking at its circular packaging program, to see where the company might not need packaging, and where it is necessary, how to design it so it can be reused or recycled. In another example, the Green Sports Alliance is looking at how it can incorporate green practices in sports stadiums.
“There’s a lot of movement away from plastic, such as canned water,” Kinter said. “We are seeing the advent of new flexible packaging materials, such as Mondi’s FlexiBag Recyclable, a mono-material, polyethylene product with a barrier that is fully recyclable. Perdue Farms is working on meat-packing foam that dissolves in your sink.
“Sustainability is evolving and the circular economy is emerging and becoming a driving force,” Kinter concluded. “Sustainability is not a threat. It is becoming more mainstream for businesses. The sustainability movement is here to stay.”
John Jilek Jr., VP of sales and marketing, Inksolutions, LLC, presented NAPIM’s annual “State of the Industry Report.”
Hunter Harris, who recently retired from Ingevity, followed with “Sustainability in the Chemical Supply Chain – Principles and Practices.”
Harris said there are four goals to be implemented over the next five years to evaluate product benefits, greenhouse gas reduction, employee engagement and community investment.
He reported that 77% of Ingevity’s revenue came from sustainable products in Q4 2019.
“We are creating long-term value by embracing opportunities and managing economic, environmental and social development risks,” Harris said. “Our four pillars are Protecting People and Environment, Creating Value for Customers and Society, Engaging Our People, and Driving Business Excellence. We will quantifiably evaluate the societal benefit of our products by 2022, and between 2020-2025 we will invest $6 million into our communities through IngeviCares.”
Harris said that one area where Ingevity is moving forward is in new polymers for the ink industry, such as the AltaPrint phenol- and formaldehyde-free polymers for printing inks.
“These are not included on the Prop 65 list and are safer for skin and eyes. This is an innovation we have developed with our renewable chemistry team,” Harris concluded.
The first day’s session closed with Dr. Natasha Banke, analytical chemist, INX International Ink Company, who gave an insightful talk on “Method Development for an Exposure Risk Assessment.”
Dr. Banke was honored with the Lawter Lecture Series award for her talk, a look at how INX was able to assess and determine the risk of PI 369, enabling it to be re-classified.
“This was essentially a UV misting experiment,” said Dr. Banke. “There are constantly changing regulations – GHS, REACH, TSCA and Significant New Use Rules (SNUR), and California Proposition 65, which has grown to more than 900 chemicals. Consumer preferences change as a result of changes to hazard warnings and brand owners will respond to changes in consumer preference or regulatory change. How we respond to change can become a framework on how we as manufacturers can respond to future regulatory change. With PI 369, we can accept the hazard and move on, or assess the risk and determine the risk of actual exposure.”
The second day was moderated by Jerry Napiecek of Colorcon, No-Tox Products.
It opened with a Graphic Arts Sustainability Panel, featuring panelists Pallavi Joyappa, chief operating officer, Emerald Packaging; Lena Zodda, marketing manager, Graphic Packaging International, Inc.; Mike Oberski, technical industry manager, pigments for ink applications, BASF Colors & Effects; and Dr. Nikola Juhasz, global technical director for sustainability, Sun Chemical.
“One of the highlights of this year’s technical conference was the Graphic Arts Sustainability Panel,” Copeland said. “We had a strong panel with Mike Oberski, Nikola Juhasz, Lena Zodda and Pallavi Joyappa, who gave their own separate presentations, each with its own distinct focus.”
Oberski started off by pointing out BASF’s goal to have pigments that are sustainable for a colorful world.
“We continue to proactively expand our pigment portfolio based on low odor, low dusting as well as VOC, SVOC, MIT and lead chromate-free solutions,” he reported. “Innovation drives sustainable solutions. We currently have 30 pigments in our pipeline, with particular focus on the development of pigments with high chemical purity, functional and effect pigments. We rely on ethically sourced material.”
Oberski said that BASF has pigments for compostable packaging, pigments for recyclable plastics, lead-free pigments, and vegan pink for cosmetics.
“We touch a number of different industries,” he said. “We provide food contact certificates. We have a dedicated portfolio specifically for sensitive applications that is compliant with global regulations. We have experts for every market segment.”
Dr. Juhasz followed and discussed global sustainability trends.
“We have seen pressure on single-use bans and microplastics in the oceans,” Dr. Juhasz said. “These trends are causing a shift from the linear to the circular economy. Sustainability activities are also internally focused as well. It is also important to develop within cross-industry associations and initiatives. New ink solutions for paper straws could replace 83 billion units a year. Sustainability is only the first step, and big brands are already looking to the next step.
“Sustainability will continue to be a topic of focus in the packaging space,” Dr. Juhasz added. “Circularity is achievable in graphic arts – we have a lot of activity and momentum. It is the future.”
Zodda and Joyappa then offered the printer’s perspective.
Zodda gave her insights into folding carton printing, while Joyappa covered flexible packaging.
“Environmental concerns are on the rise,” Zodda said. “Climate change can no longer be ignored. Customers continue to inquire about recycling, and renewable materials are expected. Most consumers care about their impact on the environment.”
To that end, Graphic Packaging has undertaken a number of initiatives, including developing double-walled paper cups replacing foam for Dunkin’ Donuts.
Zodda showed a study that reported that paperboard packaging has a 67% recovery rate in the US. By contrast, metals are 34%, glass 26% and plastic 9%.
“Paper-based products are highly recycled,” Zodda said.
Joyappa said that Emerald Packaging is the largest manufacturer of flexible packaging for the produce industry in the US.
“Sustainability is a conscious and responsible approach,” Joyappa observed. “It is time that we embark on a cradle to cradle approach. We recycle, reuse and reclaim 99% of our ink and corrugated supplies, plastic scraps and pallets.”
Joyappa expressed that there are many challenges in the flexible packaging space.
“Upgrades to the recycling system must be funded and end markets for recycled materials must be created,” she said. “We need to get moving to build the necessary recycling systems.”
When asked about the impact of recycling inks, Joyappa said that Emerald Packaging uses solvent-based inks exclusively.
“We’ve seen solvent-based inks that can be recycled and can be taken off from the surface of the film,” Joyappa said. “A lot of effort is being put into that. Certain jobs depending on ink coverage can be placed into the recyclable bracket. I haven’t seen compostable solvent-based inks.
“Compostable films are not cheap but companies don’t want to pay for it,” Joyappa added. “There is a certain cost that comes with sustainability.”
Next up was Dr. Mark Vincent, CEO of Chroma Specialty Chemicals, who discussed “PCB-11 in Pigments, Printing Inks and Environment.”
Dr. Vincent discussed the history of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a class of aromatic chemical compounds that were produced up to 1.3 million tons from 1929 to the 1970s, but was banned in 1978.
“They have extremely good chemical properties, and were used in a wide range of industries, including coatings and inks,” Dr. Vincent said. “However, they were found to be persistent and bioaccumulative in humans and the environment and production ceased.”
However, PCBs can be inadvertently generated in manufacturing processes, and the government says that PCB concentration cannot be above 50 ppm at maximum and 25 ppm at an annual average.
Against this backdrop, PCB-11 has received increased attention. PCB-11 is being detected in a wide range of areas in the US, including glaciers, Spokane River, the New York/New Jersey Harbor and the Delaware River, but it is not bioaccumulating in fish. These amounts are way below legal limits. The question is why.
“Little is known about PCB-11 and its impact on human health and the environment,," Dr. Vincent noted. “It appears to be generated in diarylide pigments like PY 12, PY 13, PY 14, PY 17 and PY 83, and PO 13 and PO 34”.
While authorities attribute the NY/NJ Harbor results to pigment manufacturing upstream and the presence of PCB-11 in consumer goods from pigments leaching into the waterways, the Spokane River has been attributed to cereal packaging, yellow foam, and yellow sidewalk chalk.
Dr. Vincent said there are potentially other possibilities.
“There are other sources – incineration, inadvertent presence in motor oil, road dust suppressant, asphalt release agent,” he added. “PCBs are prevalent in the environment, but orders of magnitude below legal limits.”
Compostability is an important issue for brand owners and converters, and Paul Fowler, principal, Diligentia Consulting, followed with “The Whys, Whats and Hows of Compostability Testing.”
Fowler said that industrial composting is a very distinct operation, complete with mixing and measurements, handling half a million tons of feedstock annually.
“Compostable packaging is a potential solution for companies’ sustainability strategies,” he added. “Why should compostable packaging be tested at all? Marketing terms like green and biodegradability are vague. Compostability can be rigorously tested.”
David Darling, VP health, safety and environmental affairs, American Coatings Association, discussed “ACA Product Category Rules.”
“Paints and coatings are indispensable from a sustainability perspective,” Darling said.
Darling spoke about the US Green Building Council (LEED), which is the most widely used green building rating system in the world.
He added that there are LEED credits for inks, such as for water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor air quality, sustainability.
“The ink industry may want to consider that,” Darling reasoned.
Joe Cichon, former VP of manufacturing technology/TPM, retired from INX International Ink Co., concluded day 2 with “The Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) Award for TPM Excellence.”
The JIPM award is the highest honor a plant can receive and measures Total Productive Management, or TPM.
Sakata INX received the honor in 2004; INX’s Edwardsville, KS plant was honored in 2010.
“TPM is a plant improvement management system, founded in America in the 1920s. Japan made a lot of improvements to it,” Cichon said. “TPM and Lean both have their roots in the Toyota Production System.”
Cichon reported that among the benefits INX received was the elimination of breakdown interruptions and thousands of employee suggestions that were put to work.
When asked, Cichon spoke about the top three things to do to make TPM work for your company.
It begins with management believing in the system.
“The top things to do is first, make sure you have the support of the top management team. If you get management to buy in, the operator will buy in real quick,” Cichon said. “Next, make sure you understand the criteria, and also make sure you have a resource you can count on if you have never done this process before. It is extremely stressful.”
Brogan Gust of Inksolutions LLC served as the moderator for the third day of Ink Week, which looked at regulatory issues.
Hazel O'Keeffe, partner, Keller and Heckman LLP, opened the session with her informative talk, “Update on the Regulation of Printing Inks in Food Packaging in Europe”
O’Keeffe said that components of printing ink are not subject to a positive list of Plastics Regulation, but within scope, if applied to plastic substrates. Non-listed substances in inks remain regulated by national laws.
“Member state legislation on EU-wide measure on printed food contact materials was contemplated by the EC but was put on hold,” O’Keeffe added. “No EU member states maintain national legislation specifically on printing inks, although certain ones have purity requirements for colorants in printing inks.”
On the other hand, Switzerland, which is not a member state, is the only country in Europe that has a positive list applicable to printing ink components.
“The Swiss Printing Inks Ordinance does not apply to the packaging ink layer in direct contact with food, when migration into food of ink substances is rendered impossible or when ‘set off’ or transfer of a gas phase can be excluded,” O’Keeffe added.
O’Keeffe then looked at the Draft German Printing Ink Ordinance, which proposes to apply to printing inks and printing varnishes that are applied to food contact materials in a printing or varnishing method.
“Substances in printing inks not intended to come in contact with food and not included in a positive list may also be used under certain conditions. There are many objections from trade associations, who are in favor of European regulation on printed food contact materials (FCM) rather than a national measure,” O’Keeffe concluded.
Fuchs then gave his comprehensive “Ink Industry Regulatory Update 2020.”
Classification of titanium dioxide, or TiO2, is a major topic in Europe.
“TiO2 has no impact when it is in a viscous liquid, similar to carbon black,” Fuchs observed. “This only applies to the dry form of the substance. The issue is the handling of it in dry form, and not in an ink formulation.”
Fuchs also discussed OSHA compliance.
“Many OSHA inspections are the result of an employee’s complaint – I would address any complaints as quickly and completely as possible,” he noted. “The most frequently cited are the Hazardous Communication standard – you need a written program, SDSs for all of your hazardous chemicals, and up to date training records that show that you have trained all of your employees. Respiratory protection and machine guarding are also common issues. OSHA has increased its fines which are pretty substantial.”
Fuchs noted that on the education side, NPIRI is working on a webinar on Ink Handling for Performance, Integrity, Safety and Health, as well as webinars on Press-side Troubleshooting and Ink and Vehicle Test Methods.
NAPIM partners with other related trade associations, including CPMA and SGIA, for state matters. Among these, Washington state’s proposed Safer Products Legislation is of interest.
“Washington state’s DOE has been looking at inadvertent PCBs, and our specific concern relates to the fact that there is a prohibition of manufacturing and sale of these chemicals. We don’t quite understand their approach to this,” Fuchs said. “We are seeing health concerns at increasingly low levels, like parts per quadrillion levels.”
CONEG legislation over the use of toxics in packaging is another area of concern.
“This meant to us the use of heavy metals, and specifically the intentional addition of these heavy metals, and no ink formulations use these,” said Fuchs. “There is new model legislation that would add PFAS and phthalates to the CONEG list. Our concerns are that they haven’t done a risk assessment here, have overly broad use of chemical classes, and are overlooking current federal regulations.”
Kevin Bromberg, coordinator, Small Business Low-Risk Coalition, analyzed “EPA's Proposed Industrial Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) and the Opportunity to Eliminate Low-Risk Facilities from Stormwater Monitoring Requirements”
Bromberg went through the current steps for the EPA’s stormwater monitoring, beginning with preparing the permit, developing a stormwater pollution prevention plan, and sending in an NOI notice to get covered and receive authorization.
From there, the company installs control measures to meet effluent limits, conducts monitoring and inspections, follows up on corrective actions and completes reporting.
“Stormwater benchmarks are not based in science, and experts found monitoring is ineffective,” Bromberg said. “EPA has proposed alternatives for ‘inspection-only’ facilities. Facilities would be required to monitor the three universal benchmarks of pH, TSS and COD throughout the permit term. It is much more expensive and monitoring is seen as ineffective.
“If your sector was clean in 1995 and identified as low chemical exposure in monitoring data, you are a Low-Risk Option,” he added. “You just have to inspections and corrective actions. NAPIM facilities qualify.”
Chuck Chaitovitz, VP, environmental affairs and sustainability, US Chamber of Commerce, then gave a short “Update on Policy Activity on PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).”
“Every five years, the EPA must publish a list of unregulated contaminants that are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems and that may require regulation. Congress isn’t following it on any basis of risk,” said Chaitovitz.
Riaz Zaman, counsel, government affairs, American Coatings Association, gave the last talk of the virtual technical conference, “TSCA/LCSA and the Ink and Coatings Industry.”
Zaman noted that TSCA requires EPA to have 20 risk evaluations open at any time; that includes effects to potentially exposed and susceptible populations, including workers. EPA also commonly issues SNURs (Significant New Use Rules).
“There are inaccuracies with the relevant data EPA uses that can be detrimental to industries,” Zaman said. “Just because EPA is evaluating these chemicals doesn’t mean it is going to restrict those chemicals. EPA is very open to hearing to having conversations with industry. EPA is probably going to be sued on its first 10 evaluations.”
Zaman also reported on the TSCA Risk Evaluation Rule Litigation.
“EPA must consider the aggregate effect of all uses., must include all uses in risk evaluation, and must consider current disposal from legacy uses,” he said. “Now scoping include legacy disposal effect, general effects on population from water and air and de minimis exposure.”
The NAPIM Technical Conference closed with an Awards Presentation & Toast.
NAPIM president Jim Leitch of Wikoff Color and Sun Chemical's Parris, NPIRI president, hosted the awards.
The Lawter Lecture Series Awards were presented by Gene Cassidy of Lawter.
INX’s Banke took first place honors, with Reginald Stuckey of Ingevity being selected for second place and Richard Czarnecki of Micro Powders earning third place.
“All of the papers were of very high quality," said Cassidy.
Kacy Schultz, manager – paste offset applications lab for Sun Chemical, received the 2020 NAPIM Technical Achievement Award.
Schultz started working for Sun Chemical as an intern from Western Michigan University, where she graduated in 1994.
Just before graduating college, she took a permanent position with Sun Chemical as a color matcher in the newly launched Energy Curable National Technical Laboratory in Northlake, IL in 1993.
Over the years her positions increased in responsibility from formulator to manager of the Paste Application Lab in Northlake, and now she is also helping manage the Screen R&D Lab in St Charles, IL, and she has many accomplishments and product innovations to her credit.
“This is very special to me,” Schultz said. “I’m very honored to be chosen for this award. This award has been given to so many great mentors.”