MANY SHADES OF GREEN

Aluminum Cans & INX:

A Synergy Of Sustainability

INX answers the call for enviro-friendly can decorating products that complement the sustainability advantages of aluminum

As brand owners expand their everincreasing use and development of sustainable products, packaging and materials, suppliers are working more than ever to address this need, and drive this important change. Sustainability concepts continue to gain traction, and have translated into thinner, down-gauged, lightweighted materials, the increased use of postconsumer recycled (PCR) content, and other developments that support recycling/efforts. Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies and retailers recognize how recyclable the metal beverage can is, and have increased their use of such recycled materials to support these efforts. In addition, the nonferrous metal can is convenient, offers optimum production protection, is lightweight and reduces CO2 emissions in shipping Some suppliers are developing closed-loop systems for reclaiming packaging material waste, diverting tons of it from landfills each year. Others are making their cans increasingly thinner and lighter to meet sustainability targets and promote the metal packaging industry’s move to a circular economy. Lightweighting helps canmakers produce more aluminum containers from the same amount of material, requiring fewer resources and energy in their production.

"Through innovation, INX is helping brand owners deliver a more environmentally friendly experience to consumers.”

Like the beverage companies, INX is developing new products and sustainable technologies and solutions to enhance its twodecade-long commitment to sustainable and corporate social responsibility practices and products. INX has identified and aligned the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with its own three main areas of impact: product design, process design, and social Responsibility (visit https:// www.inxinternational.com/ sustainability/cssf-model). Building on its research and development commitment to develop products with a minimal negative impact on the environment, INX created the AP EcoCan sustainable ink option for high-speed, two-piece metal decorating that offers low VOCs, BPANI, excellent transfer, good mobility, low misting and abrasion resistance.

The first to receive a Material Health Certificate at the Gold level from the Cradle-to-Cradle Products Innovation Institute, EcoCan was developed as a direct result of conversations with brand owners about their sustainability efforts and the contribution of metal packaging to a circular economy. The formulations are manufactured using materials that are inert to the environment and safe for human health. Enabling use in a closed biological loop system, these inks incorporate only optimized materials that do not contain any X or grey assessed materials.

INX also assists brand owners and customers in making products easier to recycle by improving functional barriers to enable the use of mono material structures, sourcing sustainably natural-based inks, and inks and coatings designed to be highly robust for multiple re-use and returnable applications. Its product stewardship program works to understand the potential life cycle impacts of chemistries and to fulfill regulatory requirements and industry-specific standards. “Our approach is to consider the end-of-life scenarios of our inks and coatings — how they interact with recycling processes — by assisting customers in making products easier to recycle and promoting the development of circular economies, '' says Shane Bertsch, vice president of strategic planning and innovation for INX. “Our complete line of conventional and digital ink and coating solutions offer customers myriad choices that include environmentally sensitive and sustainable inks.” CIRCULAR PACKAGING

Recognizing how beneficial metal beverage packaging is for a variety of products, brand owners and retailers are increasingly choosing them, says the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI). “It’s important to recycle aluminum beverage cans,” the CMI notes on its cancentral. com website. “Making an aluminum beverage can from recycled aluminum reduces energy use and greenhouse gas emissions more than 80 percent compared to using primary (virgin) aluminum. In fact, a new analysis published by Metabolic in the Netherlands finds that aluminum cans show the highest circular performance and potential of U.S. beverage packages compared with glass and plastic PET bottles. The energy saved from recycling all (100-percent) aluminum cans could power 4.1 million homes for a full year.” The CMI goes on to point out that metal recycles practically forever. “In fact, 75 percent of all aluminum and 80 to 90 percent of all steel ever produced are still in circulation,” the institute says. “In other words, it’s possible that the aluminum and steel in your beverage or food can date back to the 1800s, and has been used many times. These cans can be recycled again and again, saving energy each time.” Scott Breen, vice president of sustainability for the CMI, says that in 2019 in the United States, the amount of aluminum beverage cans recycled equaled 11 12-packs per person. “Recycled cans are the textbook example of a circular economy. The recycled content of aluminum cans in the U.S. averages a whopping 73 percent.” VISUALLY APPEALING SUSTAINABLE INK TECHNOLOGIES

Beverage manufacturers and brand owners also favor metal packaging for its adaptability to continued innovation of new packaging and decorating formats and graphic designs while meeting their practical and economic demands. Aluminum beverage cans, for example, offer 360 degrees of branding real estate. When stacked together, decorated cans may be printed with graphics that tell a story from can to can.

Metal packaging has been a value under circumstances such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Changing consumer behaviors toward more home-based activities have driven demand for existing and new canned beverages like teas, enhanced beers, waters and seltzers, juices, cocktails and coffee, which have all gained market share. Recycling and sustainability are priorities at INX, summarizes John Hrdlick, president and CEO of INX International Ink Co. “Everything we do is heavily focused on our long term plan. Most of it involves providing new and improved sustainable products to all markets we are involved in. Through innovation, INX is helping brand owners deliver a more environmentally friendly experience to consumers.”

COLORING A SAFE & SUSTAINABLE FUTURE (CSSF) MODEL

CSSF MODEL

Process Design for the Environment

Product Design for the Environment

Social Responsibility

To learn more about INX’s approach, CSSF Model or Sustainable Products, Services and Resources, visit inxinternational.com/sustainability

INX's EcoCan has C2C® Certification.To learn more, visit inxinternational.com/sustainability