Details:
Summary:
Printing flexible packaging and labels with a combination of web-offset utilizing sleeve cylinder technology and energy curable ink technology, like Electron Beam and UV, contributes to the elimination of solvents and VOCs and a reduction in total energy consumption in comparison to flexo and rotogravure, mainly because of the reduced use of fossil fuels for solvents, for heating of drying ovens and for balancing RTO operations. All together resulting in lower GHG emissions.
The four items presented in this paper contribute to the sustainability advantages of web-offset printing technology and at the same time improve circularity of packaging and label materials.
Extended Color Gamut offers a number of benefits of which reduction of press downtime and reduction of waste and costs are the main ones. The use of mono materials combined with surface printing eliminates the need for lamination and supports circular recycling. Inline application of deinking primers for energy curable inks also improves recycling and circularity of flexible packaging and labels. And LED-UV curing for film printing is expected to be the next step in energy savings.