Sustainability is driving innovation everywhere across the various package printing markets, especially in the Narrow Web, Tag and Label space, where there is a concerted effort to reduce plastic waste, increase recycling and enhance pressroom efficiency.
In this engaging and informative Packaging Perspectives Podcast, we talk to Dennis Sweet, Vice President of Narrow Web, Tag and Label at Sun Chemical, who explains how Sun Chemical has prioritized sustainability in its ink formulations.
Sweet notes that Sun Chemical in 2022 spent more than $100 million on research and development, “more than the rest of the industry combined.”
“Most of that is going into research that’s related to or directly involved in sustainability because that’s where the industry’s going. That’s where the brands are going. That’s where our customers are going,” Sweet said.
When it comes to developing sustainable package printing, Sun Chemical follows the five R’s – reuse, reduce, renew, recycle and redesign.
“If you think about it, all of the products that we develop fall into one of those five areas,” Sweet said.
One example of “reduce” is a Sun Chemical technology that eliminates the use of primer.
“Most of the industry has developed an approach where they use a primer so that they can apply this primer, and they can use the ink, and the primer will enable that product to function, whether they want it to function as a wash-off or not,” Sweet said. “Sun Chemical has taken a whole different approach, again, with the idea of ‘reduce.’ Why do we have to use a primer? Our technology does not require the use of a primer. It’s a primer-less technology, and it allows either wash-off or retentive applications.”
Check out this exclusive podcast interview to learn more about Sun Chemical’s solutions and capital investments that are enabling its customers to improve their carbon footprint while standing out on the shelf.
For more information on Sun Chemical’s solutions for the NWTL market, please visit www.sunchemical.com/labels-transform
