Colors are passion, emotions and personality. At Siegwerk, inks and coatings are our specialty and we use color to bring the packaging and products of our customers to life.
De-inking technology
Inks & Coatings
Provide de-inkable solutions to generate high quality recyclates
The challenge
During the recycling process of printed packaging materials, quality is often lost along the way, leading to recyclates that are not up to the standard required to create new packaging materials.
The ink on printed packaging gets degraded through the extrusion process that occurs during recycling. This leads to unattractive discoloration and/or unpleasant odors in the recyclates. This in turn leads to downcycling of recyclates. Avoiding the critical breakdown of materials at high temperatures is therefore key, as this often prevents the re-use of recyclates into new packaging materials.
The solution
De-inkable inks and coatings for surface printed polyolefinic films with proven performance within defined deinking process conditions.
- Definition/verification of suitable de-inking process conditions
- Close collaboration with recyclers to define industrial process window
- Evaluation of sorting processes to avoid non-compliant materials
- Certification of suitable ink solutions for the specific packaging structure
- Uncompromised technical and PSR related performance of de-inkable inks for flexible packaging applications
- Validation of de-inkability within the relevant deinking conditions at recyclers
- Avoiding hiccups like wash water contamination to ensure an economically and ecologically good process
What is deinking?
Deinking, also known as ink removal, is a process in paper recycling. It involves removing printing inks and other contaminants from waste paper to reuse the paper fibers for the production of new paper.
In what instances does deinking not work or only work poorly?
Deinking encounters problems with print finishing, flexo, and some digital prints. This is because ink removal is only possible with water-repellent inks.
Deinking of UV inks
UV inks are particularly difficult to remove due to their strong adhesion and durability. Specialized processes are required here, making the process more complex and costly. To solve this problem, Siegwerk has developed new UV flexo coatings and UV offset printing inks (see press release from September 3rd, 2020).