David Savastano, Editor11.20.17
The global packaging printing market is estimated at nearly $1 trillion, and is growing quite well. That is good news for energy curing ink specialists, as the use of UV, UV LEB and EB inks are also rising.
In 2015, Allied Research Markets calculated that the global UV ink market will reach $3.5 billion in 2020, with a CAGR of 15.7% from 2015-2020. These inks are found in many key growth sectors, including flexo, sheetfed and digital printing.
Tony Renzi, VP, product management packaging inks, North American Inks, Sun Chemical, reported that Sun Chemical saw growth in the UV/EB market in 2017 compared to 2016.
“UV inks for commercial printing was a sluggish market, but did grow with the utilization of more high energy HUV and LED type presses,” Renzi said. “The packaging market continues to lead the way for UV and EB growth, especially UV flexo, narrow web, tag and label, folding carton, and other emerging applications in flexible packaging. There is a new interest in EB curing for flexible packaging applications, with the ability to replace some lamination applications.”
“We see steady growth in energy curables in sheetfed packaging and commercial print, and also steady growth of EC in inks for narrow web labels and packaging,” said Peter Baird, global marketing and communications director, sheetfed at Flint Group.
Marc Larvor, Siegwerk’s head of technical marketing for sheetfed and narrow web, reported that the overall UV/EB market is still growing, while UV flexo printing shows higher growth rates than UV offset.
“Besides, the development of the energy curing sector is heavily depending on the regions,” Larvor said. “From an application point of view, we notice the strongest growth coming from an increasing demand for low migration solutions, UV flexo inks for food packaging as well as other sensitive applications for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.”
Avik Chatterjee, VP, marketing and products, Toyo Ink Europe, observed that the energy curing sector continues to grow in Europe, Latin America and Asian countries, mainly in the packaging and label sectors.
“However, we can observe a significant rise of low energy curable system (highly reactive UV and LED UV) in the commercial printing market, especially in Europe,” Chatterjee added. “The increasing demand in productivity, trend of shorter print runs with more variance in print and package design are probably the fundamental reasons behind this growth.”
“Having the ability to continue year-to-year growth is testament to the benefits of our technologies in this sector,” noted Jonathan Graunke, VP - UV/EB technology for INX International Ink Co.
LED Curing
In particular, LED curing has been increasing in usage in recent years, driven by environmental, cost and performance reasons. Power savings are one advantage, as LED curing is instant on/off. LED lamps have a longer lifespan. Another key is heat: LED curing minimizes infrared heat, which allows printers to use heat sensitive substrates that they can’t ordinarily use with mercury lamps, which also require chillers. There is also no need for ozone filtration systems.
Robert Doerffel, head of corporate communications in Europe for hubergroup Deutschland GmbH, said that generally speaking, a part of the shrinking sheetfed commercial market is moving toward energy curing.
“Here especially LED technology is obviously very attractive,” said Doerffel. “From the technical perspective, LED is becoming less challenging due to the progress made on the LED emitter and ink side. Now new market areas are further investigated, such as low migration and UV flexo low migration. The arguments of production speed and simple retro-fitting of presses are clearly working in favor of this curing technology.”
Larvor said that with its potential for eco-efficiency, cost-effectiveness and productivity advantages, LED UV is definitely one technological advance of recent years that will drive future development in the ink industry.
“An increasing number of printers are already opting for LED UV technology regardless of the printing process used,” Larvor continued. “However, the acceptance of LED was generally limited due to a lack of low migration solutions so far. Since early 2016, Siegwerk offers the Nutriflex LEDTec series, which was the first fully-available LED UV low migration ink system that has been launched for flexo printing. A further expansion of applications will enable printers to use LED UV inks for their full range of print jobs and therefore will drive future interest in this technology.”
Renzi said that there is certainly a lot to gain from the developments in UV LED.
“LED lamps are especially useful for heat sensitive materials like plastic or film,” Renzi noted. “Unlike mercury lamps, which require chilled rollers to reduce effects of heat on substrate, LED doesn’t require those because its infrared-free output has the ability to deliver energy to cure and keep things cool at the same time. Additionally, UV LED has a longer lifespan than mercury lamps and there is dramatically less drop off in performance over time. Less lamps are needed too, depending on the application.”
“LED UV curing optimizes energy utilization, and nicely combines the environmental and cost advantages together with enhancement of performance, like lower heat generation than UV,” said Chatterjee. “This makes the technology so attractive to the convertors and expanding its application areas and market.”
Graunke noted that the cost of entry to convert a press for offset is relatively low, and there are now many equipment suppliers.
“The ink technology continues to evolve with LED lamp power, which has overcome some of the early challenges as LED emerged,” Graunke observed. “The press manufacturers all are including LED in their platforms, and the LED manufacturers have done a goof job demonstrating the operating cost and environmental benefits.”
Baird said that the driver for LED’s growth is clearly efficiency in the pressroom brought about by instant curing compared to oxidization, coupled with the green credentials of LED and the facility to retrofit an existing press.
“Recently, converted customers are also excited by the wider range of substrates they can print on, and the extent to which LED can open up new market niches for them.” Baird added.
“Overall, most converters are looking at LED due to its improved efficiency and total cost of ownership,” added Niklas Olsson, global brand manager narrow web with Flint Group.
Mercury Lamps
Mercury lamps remain the largest percentage of the UV printing market. However, there is also a possibility that traditional UV technologies like mercury lamps could eventually be legislated out or become obsolete, leaving LED curing as the primary technology.
“The EU RoHS Directive already now bans the use of mercury in lamps,” Doerffel said. “But there is an exemption 4(f) in the Annex III of the Directive: ‘Mercury in other discharge lamps for special purposes not specifically mentioned in this Annex,’ which only recently has been extended by 2021. For the EU, one cannot foresee if the EU Commission will grant another extension of the exemption after 2021. Thus, it seems wise for UV printers to switch from traditional mercury lamps to LED where technically possible.”
“RoHS has already restricted the usage and disposal of lamps containing mercury vapors,” Chatterjee added. “For the time being, there are certain exemptions for large scale industrial installations, and the use of mercury UV lamps in the graphic arts industry falls under these exemptions. However, we anticipate the norms for disposal of mercury UV lamps will become stricter. There is a strong possibility of this kind of lamp being legislated out with the growth of alternative technology of LED UV lamps offering equivalent or even better results in performance and cost. However, there is a huge number of mercury UV installations worldwide at this moment.”
“In terms of market share, we know LED is growing,” Renzi observed. “In faster wide format presses, mercury lamps still dominate, but we would expect LED to become a major part of digital label and packaging presses as technology develops. Photoinitiators used for some LED applications may have some regulatory challenges.”
“The European directive ‘Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment’ (RoHS 2) still allows an exemption for high-pressure mercury lamps like they are used for traditional UV curing,” Larvor said. “Until today, it is still difficult to predict when regulatory authorities will repeal of this exception rule.”
“It is hard to say since UV has distinct advantages and disadvantages,” said Graunke. “UV still can provide better cure for clear coatings at a lower coating cost, and the technology is well established for applications where low migration inks and coatings are needed. LED is emerging here and shows much promise as the consumable suppliers continue to develop products.”
Baird said that the possibility exists that mercury lamps may lose their exemption, but the advantages of LED curing is making the discussion academic.
“This is possible of course, over time, and depends on legislation direction,” Baird observed. “A main driver would be the elimination of mercury from the process and possibly the drastically reduced power consumption of LED vs. MPM lamps. However, at this time we have no signs that there will be any legislation against mercury lamps. But we do see that LED is improving its share based on normal financial benefits and offering greater overall value.”
Growth in Graphic Arts
Numerous printing sectors have proven to be particularly ideal for energy curing, and there are opportunities for further growth. Larvor said that narrow web printing is one stronghold for UV.
“With a penetration rate of around 85%, UV technology is already very present in the area of narrow web printing in Europe,” Larvor added. “From an application perspective, a growing use of UV curing could be noticed in flexible film printing like, for example, pouches, sleeves and in-mold labels (IML).”
“For the narrow web label market, we see the benefits of LED in every segment - also recently as we introduced rotary silkscreen ink in LED - allowing combination printing at 100 m/min + (compared to the norm with mercury at max 40-50 m/min),” said Olsson.
Doerffel said that heat sensitive substrates are a new opportunity for LED.
“Clearly printing on non-absorbent substrates is in favor of UV and especially with LED as a ‘cold’ energy source,” Doerffel said. “This will even enlarge the applications for printing on thinner and more heat-sensitive substrates than ever before.”
“Energy curing has proven its suitability for short-run, quick-turnaround commercial printing jobs, carton packaging, synthetic labels and self-adhesive labels,” said Chatterjee. “In our understanding the next opportunities for growth will be packaging markets/segments, which are targeting to reduce energy consumption, carbon footprint and VOC emission. We believe energy curing in flexible packaging printing will grow further.”
Renzi said that high speed UV and EB offset for food packaging is a natural fit. “EB offset and flexo for flexible packaging is becoming a buzz word among some major converters and brand owners,” added Renzi.
“The traditional heartland of sheetfed commercial print (i.e. long perfecting presses) has proven to be a real hot spot in the adoption of EC technology,” Baird said. “We are now seeing major opportunities for growth in technology switch/retrofitting LED in the heatset web and newspaper markets.”
UV/EB and Food Packaging
Food packaging is a particularly sensitive topic for brand owners, converters and ink manufacturers alike.
“With regard to narrow web, the rationale for LED curing in food packaging is driven by the assuredness of cure over time that comes naturally with LED lamps not losing its dosage/efficiency rapidly,” Olsson observed. “Whereas mercury lamps tend to lose efficiency after 1,000 hours, LED lamps are proven to provide 90-95% of its dosage in 10,000s of hours use.”
There are concerns over photoinitiators and other ingredients, though. As a result, Renzi said that EB curing is drawing more attention.
“Sun Chemical does manufacture UV and EB ink and coating formulations specifically for food packaging where low migration is essential,” Renzi said. “Most notably, the types of acceptable photoinitiators for food packaging and low migration applications continue to shrink. Low migration EB inks and coatings are also developed, which provide for optimum curing with irradiation by an electronic beam. Curing usually takes place in an inerted chamber with a nitrogen atmosphere preferred when producing food packaging. The use of EB curables for lamination purposes continues to gain attention. We’re currently seeing growing interest in EB technology for use on flexible packaging applications.”
Chatterjee also sees potential for EB curing for food packaging.
“The chemistry involved in energy curing technology is based on synthetic polymers,” said Chatterjee. “The chemistry is much more transparent and analytical. This provided a higher level of confidence in knowing the food safety levels of the components involved. Let’s say that the ‘unknown’ part of the chemistry is absent in this technology. Hence, energy curing, especially electron beam chemistry which provided in-depth and near complete curing, provides a stronger platform of food packaging safety.”
“Since we offer a full range of low migration UV solutions based on the highest standards in terms of product safety, we especially note a continuously increasing importance of UV curing for food packaging applications,” Larvor reported.
“Instant dry can be used on many substrates,” said Graunke. “The printing market has changed so printers need to look for ways to stay relevant. Food packaging will continue to be around regardless of the point-of-sale aspect. It’s also important to note that packaging must always be labeled.”
Regulatory Hurdles
Ink manufacturers are monitoring regulatory hurdles that have already been mandated as well as others that could come.
“Next to the already existing European food contact material (FCM) regulation and the restrictions for packaging inks generally defined by the Swiss Ordinance, the upcoming implementation of REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) as the European Chemicals Legislation by May 2018 might further limit the approved raw materials for food packaging applications due to reclassifications of the existing definitions,” Larvor noted. “This topic remains a constant challenge for Siegwerk and all other players in the ink industry. Besides, it was lately announced that the regulation for printed food contact material should be updated for the European Union. These changes may have further influences on the expansion of the energy curing technology. As this planned update has not even reached a draft status, it is far too early to assess the real potential impact the changes might have.”
“One major change is that Nestle has stated that BPA-based chemicals can no longer be used,” Renzi said. “Many brand owners are following this direction too. Some energy curable chemistries, as well as low migration products, did contain small levels of BPA. Reformulations in some cases are needed in order to remove all BPA, including NIAS types (Not Intentionally Added Substance).”
“Inks have to be manufactured according to the existing regulations and need to be safe for users and consumers” Doerffel said. “However, science and technology will always lead to changes in findings, and – be it with or without broad consensus about e.g. a related risk assessment of a raw material – those findings will of course have consequences for the industry and the downstream converters if they lead to changes in regulations. Related to UV, there is an important photoinitiator that may soon be reclassified, which will affect a relevant number of the UV curing inks currently in use. Such changes will be part of a regular process and need to be taken care of, but they are not considered hurdles or issues that will end at a certain point in time.”
“The regulatory hurdles in the field of energy curing chemistry are not so many,” said Chatterjee. “Well-developed chemistries are available which conform to the current generation of regulations to the highest level. Of course, converters need to work with suppliers who have thorough research and understanding of such chemistry. One of the promising silver-line for energy curing chemistry was the FCN (food contact notification) issued by FDA few years back in which certain UV chemistry was studied and analyzed by FDA and was approved for direct food contact. This shows the food safety potential of energy curing chemistry.”
“We believe the bigger problem to overcome is still the ‘perception’ of energy curing in the food industry,” Olsson said. “Although we can prove, through full evidence of migration testing, that the use of energy curing meets all criteria (including the most stringent end user demands), there is still a perception we are working against.
“Because most industries are embracing ‘more sustainable solutions,’ UV LED curing should be seen for the benefits it offers – such as significant improvements in the flexible packaging arena with regard to printing and safety,” added Olsson. “However, still today, this segment mainly uses solvent-based inks, which not only have high VOCs, but studies show that these technologies can use up to 400% energy to dry/cure. Tradition and the processes which are well-known still blur the discussions and are not based on scientific facts.”
In 2015, Allied Research Markets calculated that the global UV ink market will reach $3.5 billion in 2020, with a CAGR of 15.7% from 2015-2020. These inks are found in many key growth sectors, including flexo, sheetfed and digital printing.
Tony Renzi, VP, product management packaging inks, North American Inks, Sun Chemical, reported that Sun Chemical saw growth in the UV/EB market in 2017 compared to 2016.
“UV inks for commercial printing was a sluggish market, but did grow with the utilization of more high energy HUV and LED type presses,” Renzi said. “The packaging market continues to lead the way for UV and EB growth, especially UV flexo, narrow web, tag and label, folding carton, and other emerging applications in flexible packaging. There is a new interest in EB curing for flexible packaging applications, with the ability to replace some lamination applications.”
“We see steady growth in energy curables in sheetfed packaging and commercial print, and also steady growth of EC in inks for narrow web labels and packaging,” said Peter Baird, global marketing and communications director, sheetfed at Flint Group.
Marc Larvor, Siegwerk’s head of technical marketing for sheetfed and narrow web, reported that the overall UV/EB market is still growing, while UV flexo printing shows higher growth rates than UV offset.
“Besides, the development of the energy curing sector is heavily depending on the regions,” Larvor said. “From an application point of view, we notice the strongest growth coming from an increasing demand for low migration solutions, UV flexo inks for food packaging as well as other sensitive applications for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.”
Avik Chatterjee, VP, marketing and products, Toyo Ink Europe, observed that the energy curing sector continues to grow in Europe, Latin America and Asian countries, mainly in the packaging and label sectors.
“However, we can observe a significant rise of low energy curable system (highly reactive UV and LED UV) in the commercial printing market, especially in Europe,” Chatterjee added. “The increasing demand in productivity, trend of shorter print runs with more variance in print and package design are probably the fundamental reasons behind this growth.”
“Having the ability to continue year-to-year growth is testament to the benefits of our technologies in this sector,” noted Jonathan Graunke, VP - UV/EB technology for INX International Ink Co.
LED Curing
In particular, LED curing has been increasing in usage in recent years, driven by environmental, cost and performance reasons. Power savings are one advantage, as LED curing is instant on/off. LED lamps have a longer lifespan. Another key is heat: LED curing minimizes infrared heat, which allows printers to use heat sensitive substrates that they can’t ordinarily use with mercury lamps, which also require chillers. There is also no need for ozone filtration systems.
Robert Doerffel, head of corporate communications in Europe for hubergroup Deutschland GmbH, said that generally speaking, a part of the shrinking sheetfed commercial market is moving toward energy curing.
“Here especially LED technology is obviously very attractive,” said Doerffel. “From the technical perspective, LED is becoming less challenging due to the progress made on the LED emitter and ink side. Now new market areas are further investigated, such as low migration and UV flexo low migration. The arguments of production speed and simple retro-fitting of presses are clearly working in favor of this curing technology.”
Larvor said that with its potential for eco-efficiency, cost-effectiveness and productivity advantages, LED UV is definitely one technological advance of recent years that will drive future development in the ink industry.
“An increasing number of printers are already opting for LED UV technology regardless of the printing process used,” Larvor continued. “However, the acceptance of LED was generally limited due to a lack of low migration solutions so far. Since early 2016, Siegwerk offers the Nutriflex LEDTec series, which was the first fully-available LED UV low migration ink system that has been launched for flexo printing. A further expansion of applications will enable printers to use LED UV inks for their full range of print jobs and therefore will drive future interest in this technology.”
Renzi said that there is certainly a lot to gain from the developments in UV LED.
“LED lamps are especially useful for heat sensitive materials like plastic or film,” Renzi noted. “Unlike mercury lamps, which require chilled rollers to reduce effects of heat on substrate, LED doesn’t require those because its infrared-free output has the ability to deliver energy to cure and keep things cool at the same time. Additionally, UV LED has a longer lifespan than mercury lamps and there is dramatically less drop off in performance over time. Less lamps are needed too, depending on the application.”
“LED UV curing optimizes energy utilization, and nicely combines the environmental and cost advantages together with enhancement of performance, like lower heat generation than UV,” said Chatterjee. “This makes the technology so attractive to the convertors and expanding its application areas and market.”
Graunke noted that the cost of entry to convert a press for offset is relatively low, and there are now many equipment suppliers.
“The ink technology continues to evolve with LED lamp power, which has overcome some of the early challenges as LED emerged,” Graunke observed. “The press manufacturers all are including LED in their platforms, and the LED manufacturers have done a goof job demonstrating the operating cost and environmental benefits.”
Baird said that the driver for LED’s growth is clearly efficiency in the pressroom brought about by instant curing compared to oxidization, coupled with the green credentials of LED and the facility to retrofit an existing press.
“Recently, converted customers are also excited by the wider range of substrates they can print on, and the extent to which LED can open up new market niches for them.” Baird added.
“Overall, most converters are looking at LED due to its improved efficiency and total cost of ownership,” added Niklas Olsson, global brand manager narrow web with Flint Group.
Mercury Lamps
Mercury lamps remain the largest percentage of the UV printing market. However, there is also a possibility that traditional UV technologies like mercury lamps could eventually be legislated out or become obsolete, leaving LED curing as the primary technology.
“The EU RoHS Directive already now bans the use of mercury in lamps,” Doerffel said. “But there is an exemption 4(f) in the Annex III of the Directive: ‘Mercury in other discharge lamps for special purposes not specifically mentioned in this Annex,’ which only recently has been extended by 2021. For the EU, one cannot foresee if the EU Commission will grant another extension of the exemption after 2021. Thus, it seems wise for UV printers to switch from traditional mercury lamps to LED where technically possible.”
“RoHS has already restricted the usage and disposal of lamps containing mercury vapors,” Chatterjee added. “For the time being, there are certain exemptions for large scale industrial installations, and the use of mercury UV lamps in the graphic arts industry falls under these exemptions. However, we anticipate the norms for disposal of mercury UV lamps will become stricter. There is a strong possibility of this kind of lamp being legislated out with the growth of alternative technology of LED UV lamps offering equivalent or even better results in performance and cost. However, there is a huge number of mercury UV installations worldwide at this moment.”
“In terms of market share, we know LED is growing,” Renzi observed. “In faster wide format presses, mercury lamps still dominate, but we would expect LED to become a major part of digital label and packaging presses as technology develops. Photoinitiators used for some LED applications may have some regulatory challenges.”
“The European directive ‘Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment’ (RoHS 2) still allows an exemption for high-pressure mercury lamps like they are used for traditional UV curing,” Larvor said. “Until today, it is still difficult to predict when regulatory authorities will repeal of this exception rule.”
“It is hard to say since UV has distinct advantages and disadvantages,” said Graunke. “UV still can provide better cure for clear coatings at a lower coating cost, and the technology is well established for applications where low migration inks and coatings are needed. LED is emerging here and shows much promise as the consumable suppliers continue to develop products.”
Baird said that the possibility exists that mercury lamps may lose their exemption, but the advantages of LED curing is making the discussion academic.
“This is possible of course, over time, and depends on legislation direction,” Baird observed. “A main driver would be the elimination of mercury from the process and possibly the drastically reduced power consumption of LED vs. MPM lamps. However, at this time we have no signs that there will be any legislation against mercury lamps. But we do see that LED is improving its share based on normal financial benefits and offering greater overall value.”
Growth in Graphic Arts
Numerous printing sectors have proven to be particularly ideal for energy curing, and there are opportunities for further growth. Larvor said that narrow web printing is one stronghold for UV.
“With a penetration rate of around 85%, UV technology is already very present in the area of narrow web printing in Europe,” Larvor added. “From an application perspective, a growing use of UV curing could be noticed in flexible film printing like, for example, pouches, sleeves and in-mold labels (IML).”
“For the narrow web label market, we see the benefits of LED in every segment - also recently as we introduced rotary silkscreen ink in LED - allowing combination printing at 100 m/min + (compared to the norm with mercury at max 40-50 m/min),” said Olsson.
Doerffel said that heat sensitive substrates are a new opportunity for LED.
“Clearly printing on non-absorbent substrates is in favor of UV and especially with LED as a ‘cold’ energy source,” Doerffel said. “This will even enlarge the applications for printing on thinner and more heat-sensitive substrates than ever before.”
“Energy curing has proven its suitability for short-run, quick-turnaround commercial printing jobs, carton packaging, synthetic labels and self-adhesive labels,” said Chatterjee. “In our understanding the next opportunities for growth will be packaging markets/segments, which are targeting to reduce energy consumption, carbon footprint and VOC emission. We believe energy curing in flexible packaging printing will grow further.”
Renzi said that high speed UV and EB offset for food packaging is a natural fit. “EB offset and flexo for flexible packaging is becoming a buzz word among some major converters and brand owners,” added Renzi.
“The traditional heartland of sheetfed commercial print (i.e. long perfecting presses) has proven to be a real hot spot in the adoption of EC technology,” Baird said. “We are now seeing major opportunities for growth in technology switch/retrofitting LED in the heatset web and newspaper markets.”
UV/EB and Food Packaging
Food packaging is a particularly sensitive topic for brand owners, converters and ink manufacturers alike.
“With regard to narrow web, the rationale for LED curing in food packaging is driven by the assuredness of cure over time that comes naturally with LED lamps not losing its dosage/efficiency rapidly,” Olsson observed. “Whereas mercury lamps tend to lose efficiency after 1,000 hours, LED lamps are proven to provide 90-95% of its dosage in 10,000s of hours use.”
There are concerns over photoinitiators and other ingredients, though. As a result, Renzi said that EB curing is drawing more attention.
“Sun Chemical does manufacture UV and EB ink and coating formulations specifically for food packaging where low migration is essential,” Renzi said. “Most notably, the types of acceptable photoinitiators for food packaging and low migration applications continue to shrink. Low migration EB inks and coatings are also developed, which provide for optimum curing with irradiation by an electronic beam. Curing usually takes place in an inerted chamber with a nitrogen atmosphere preferred when producing food packaging. The use of EB curables for lamination purposes continues to gain attention. We’re currently seeing growing interest in EB technology for use on flexible packaging applications.”
Chatterjee also sees potential for EB curing for food packaging.
“The chemistry involved in energy curing technology is based on synthetic polymers,” said Chatterjee. “The chemistry is much more transparent and analytical. This provided a higher level of confidence in knowing the food safety levels of the components involved. Let’s say that the ‘unknown’ part of the chemistry is absent in this technology. Hence, energy curing, especially electron beam chemistry which provided in-depth and near complete curing, provides a stronger platform of food packaging safety.”
“Since we offer a full range of low migration UV solutions based on the highest standards in terms of product safety, we especially note a continuously increasing importance of UV curing for food packaging applications,” Larvor reported.
“Instant dry can be used on many substrates,” said Graunke. “The printing market has changed so printers need to look for ways to stay relevant. Food packaging will continue to be around regardless of the point-of-sale aspect. It’s also important to note that packaging must always be labeled.”
Regulatory Hurdles
Ink manufacturers are monitoring regulatory hurdles that have already been mandated as well as others that could come.
“Next to the already existing European food contact material (FCM) regulation and the restrictions for packaging inks generally defined by the Swiss Ordinance, the upcoming implementation of REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) as the European Chemicals Legislation by May 2018 might further limit the approved raw materials for food packaging applications due to reclassifications of the existing definitions,” Larvor noted. “This topic remains a constant challenge for Siegwerk and all other players in the ink industry. Besides, it was lately announced that the regulation for printed food contact material should be updated for the European Union. These changes may have further influences on the expansion of the energy curing technology. As this planned update has not even reached a draft status, it is far too early to assess the real potential impact the changes might have.”
“One major change is that Nestle has stated that BPA-based chemicals can no longer be used,” Renzi said. “Many brand owners are following this direction too. Some energy curable chemistries, as well as low migration products, did contain small levels of BPA. Reformulations in some cases are needed in order to remove all BPA, including NIAS types (Not Intentionally Added Substance).”
“Inks have to be manufactured according to the existing regulations and need to be safe for users and consumers” Doerffel said. “However, science and technology will always lead to changes in findings, and – be it with or without broad consensus about e.g. a related risk assessment of a raw material – those findings will of course have consequences for the industry and the downstream converters if they lead to changes in regulations. Related to UV, there is an important photoinitiator that may soon be reclassified, which will affect a relevant number of the UV curing inks currently in use. Such changes will be part of a regular process and need to be taken care of, but they are not considered hurdles or issues that will end at a certain point in time.”
“The regulatory hurdles in the field of energy curing chemistry are not so many,” said Chatterjee. “Well-developed chemistries are available which conform to the current generation of regulations to the highest level. Of course, converters need to work with suppliers who have thorough research and understanding of such chemistry. One of the promising silver-line for energy curing chemistry was the FCN (food contact notification) issued by FDA few years back in which certain UV chemistry was studied and analyzed by FDA and was approved for direct food contact. This shows the food safety potential of energy curing chemistry.”
“We believe the bigger problem to overcome is still the ‘perception’ of energy curing in the food industry,” Olsson said. “Although we can prove, through full evidence of migration testing, that the use of energy curing meets all criteria (including the most stringent end user demands), there is still a perception we are working against.
“Because most industries are embracing ‘more sustainable solutions,’ UV LED curing should be seen for the benefits it offers – such as significant improvements in the flexible packaging arena with regard to printing and safety,” added Olsson. “However, still today, this segment mainly uses solvent-based inks, which not only have high VOCs, but studies show that these technologies can use up to 400% energy to dry/cure. Tradition and the processes which are well-known still blur the discussions and are not based on scientific facts.”
