IS EB OFFSET THE FUTURE OF PACKAGING PRINT? How can the printing industry play its part in reducing the overall carbon footprint of the packaging supply chain? It’s one of the questions that must be addressed as we grapple with the global climate crisis and move – hopefully – towards a more sustainable future. For Toray Industries, Inc., one of the answers lies in offset Electron Beam (EB) technology. Victoria Hattersley spoke with Itsue Yanagida, Business Development Manager, Graphic Systems, Toray International Europe GmbH. What is the most efficient, most sustainable solution for the future of packaging print? According to Toray, the answer lies in electron beam (EB) offset technology.
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hen it comes to the flexible packaging industry, offset technology is still not as widely used as the more ‘traditional’ print techniques such as gravure and flexographic. However, this may change: according to Itsue Yanagida, “Offset printing is more competitive especially in short and medium runs as it has a shorter time to market and offers more flexibility for production, as offset plate can be imaged within minutes. Also, offset printing plate material and processing costs are much lower than ‘traditional’ printing plates and cylinders. Recently these advantages of offset printing have been getting more important as food and consumable products are shifting to a wider variety of goods in smaller quantities.” In Europe, Toray may perhaps be known primarily as a chemicals manufacturer, but in fact the company has also been active in the printing industry for over 50 years, when it initiated its first R&D projects in the field.
In addition to the European headquarters in Neu-Isenburg near Frankfurt, Toray offers its solutions for the packaging industry at two other European locations: Toray Textile Central Europe (TTCE) produces and distributes the company’s IMPRIMATM FR printing plates while also carrying out R&D; and Toray Films Europe (TFE) is focused on the production of special films.
The most sustainable choice? Why exactly does Toray believe EB offset is the most environmentally sustainable solution? Itsue Yanagida says there are two main reasons for this. “First, the volume of solvent used in gravure and flexo is high, leading to high CO2 emissions. On the other hand, EB offset ink doesn’t include any solvent so that it automatically results in lower CO2 emissions. Second, solvent ink need more energy to vaporize solvents from the inks and oxidize solvents from the hot air. Furthermore, as offset plates are made of aluminum, they can be recycled whereas flexo plates cannot. In the end, the total energy consumption of an EB offset press such as Comexi’s Offset CI Evolution is much less than in other ‘traditional’ printing technologies.”
Offset printing is more competitive especially in short and medium runs as it has a shorter time to market and offers more flexibility for production. ITSUE YANAGIDA
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